


The Last Hero, Book 2: Labrynna

by MeLoveMamimi



Series: The Legend of Zelda: The Last Hero [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-03-05 23:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13398777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeLoveMamimi/pseuds/MeLoveMamimi





	1. Lon Lon Ranch

"Check the energy levels!"

"I just did."

"Well check them again!"

"I'm working on it! Get off my back, will ya?"

"This is ridiculous! How did it fail?!"

"It was Link, you moron. His stupid rain spell ruined the summoning."

"…No."

"No?"

"If his so called rain spell had truly worked, then nothing would have happened, and this creature we're now stuck with wouldn't exist. He was too late to stop us. The summoning went as planned."

"Then why did it fail?"

"It wasn't the boy's fault. It was the girl's."

"The girl's? You don't mean―"

"Princess Zelda!"

Navi sat up quickly. Her eyes snapped open, and her hands flew out in front of her but found nothing to grab. She sat there, rigid and frozen, until her hands dropped to her side and her head to her chest.

"Just a dream."

She got to her feet, but glanced down as she stood up. Nothing but empty air separated her from the ground moving beneath her. Her legs buckled at the site and she flapped her arms to keep her balance, but her hands landed on a solid, invisible wall.

"What's going on?! Help! I'm being catnipped!"

"I think your bottle's yelling at you," a young woman's voice said. A huge hand came into view, and wrapped around the invisible walls holding Navi hostage. She squeaked and scooted away from the hand.

"Please don't hurt me!"

She felt herself being lifted up until she came face to face with a young man of blonde hair.

"Link?"

" _Navi, it's okay. It's just me."_

Link rode Epona at a trot while Malon and Talon followed with their covered wagon. They were traveling through the green meadows of the Hyrule Plains. The horses' feet made squelching noises as they walked across the muddied grass, soaked from the previous night's storm. Link popped the wooden cork from his glass bottle and overturned it, and Navi zipped out the open rim.

"What's the big idea, keeping me prisoner in that thing?"

" _You fainted while we were in the Temple of Time. Do you remember?"_

"A little, I think. What happened?"

_"You helped Impa heal me when Rio stabbed me."_

"I did?"

_"Yeah. How do you feel?"_

Navi twirled in a full circle, examining her own body.

"I feel… fine. Good, actually."

_"Why so surprised?"_

"Link, I should be dead!"

_"What?! Why?!"_

"I told you! If I heal any major injuries on you, I use all of my life energy and die! Healing a stab wound in the stomach is about as major as it gets!"

_"And yet, here you are."_

"But… how?"

_"Maybe because Impa helped? Maybe since you two worked together to save me, you didn't use all your energy."_

"Maybe? I don't know. Wait, where's Impa, and the all others? Where are we?"

Her wings twittered as she began panicking.

"Where's Princess Zelda?! What happened to Ganondorf?! Did we win?! Please tell me we won!"

_"We tried to stop him, but he summoned some weird zombie thing, then he and his buddies disappeared."_

"Disappeared? But that means―"

" _Yeah. Ganondorf took the Princess, and got away."_

Cries erupted from Navi as she burst into tears.

" _Hey, it's okay! We're gonna get her back."_

"How? Do you know where she is?"

" _No, but Shiek and I are gonna find out."_

"Shiek? Who?"

She looked up and saw the masked figure, sitting arms folded and legs crossed on top of the Lon Lon Ranch's covered wagon.

"Wait, aren't you Adelz? The guy from the tavern?"

"Kidnapped."

"Wh- what?"

The word came so abruptly out of Shiek's mouth that Navi had to regain her train of thought.

"Kidnapped? What are you talking about?"

"You were screaming that you'd been 'catnipped.' I think you meant 'kidnapped.'"

"Um, okay? Link, why's he here?"

_"He asked Impa if he could come with me. He's going to help us find the Princess. But first, we're checking in."_

"Checking in? Where?"

_"My home, Lon Lon Ranch."_

"You mean, I get to see where you live?"

_"You do, and you woke up just in time. We're here."_

Lon Lon's sweet red cottage and barn peeked out from over the green, rocky hill and metal fence. Link could see the trims on the buildings and smell the wet pasture grass as they approached. After the ordeal in Hyrule City, seeing the old ranch brought a smile to Link's face, and he realized he'd missed the place more than he'd thought.

_"Home sweet home."_

"Finally!" Malon exclaimed. "It was only two days, but it feels like we've been gone for two years!"

_"Tell me about it. It's incredible, how much has really happened."_

Talon pulled on the reins, and the horses drawing the carriage slowed.

"Why're we stopping, Dad?"

"The darn gate's closed. Darlin', would you mind?"

Malon pushed herself off the carriage, strode over to the gate, and grabbed the heavy padlock.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong, sweety?"

"The lock's been changed."

"Now who'da done a thing like that?"

"Did Uncle Ingo change it while we were gone?" Malon cupped her hands over her mouth and called, "Uncle Ingo! We're home! Let us in! Uncle Ingo?"

Silence was the only answer that came from over the gate.

"Something's not right," she said. "Even from out here, we should be able to hear the horses trotting or the cuccos clucking. Is he in there?"

"Link," said Talon. "See if you can't jump the fence with Epona and figure out what's goin' on. You better get back up, girl."

Malon moved over to the other side of the gate while Talon pulled the carriage horses out of the way.

" _Master."_

" _Fi? What's up?"_

" _I am detecting a malevolent aura emanating from the confines of the ranch. Its signature is similar to that which was present in the Temple of Time."_

" _Is it Ganondorf?"_

" _It's too soon for me to discern, but please exercise caution when entering the ranch."_

"Link?" Navi asked. "What's going on?"

" _Don't know, but we're about to find out."_

Link steered Epona away and headed down the dirt path, then turned back toward Lon Lon Ranch. He gave Epona's neck a good rub.

" _Ready?"_

She snorted and struck the ground with her hoof.

" _Atta girl! Go!"_

Link grabbed a firm handful of Epona's mane and kicked her flank. She set off at a hard gallop, sending a breeze through his hair.

_"Faster, Epona!"_

"Link!" Navi cried. "You're gonna―"

Before she could finish, Epona leapt and sailed over the gate. She skidded to a trot on the other side, then reared up on her hind legs and whinnied victoriously before falling back on all fours.

"…hit the gate?"

Link swung his leg over and dismounted Epona. He made his way into the ranch with the mare following at his heels.

"Don't take too long!" Malon called after him. Shiek jumped from his seat atop the carriage, landed on one of the gate's posts, and launched himself up and over the roof of the cottage.

"Shiek! Where are you going?"

"Don' worry 'bout him," Talon grunted as he reached into the back of the wagon and pulled out a heavy wrench. "Let's see if we can't get that there lock removed."

Link's footsteps crunched on the wet grass and dirt. He came to the door of the house and tried it, but it too was locked.

"What's with all the locked doors?" Navi asked as she perched on his shoulder.

" _No idea. The main gate's supposed to be open during business hours, and the front door is supposed to be open for the cuccos so they can roost. Something weird is going on."_

"Who's that over there?"

He turned to where she pointed, and saw Ingo. Clad in his work overalls, he was standing next and facing the racetrack, with his hands behind his back. Link walked toward him, but he turned around at the sound of Link's crunching boots.

"You there! How did you get into my ranch?!"

Link stopped in his tracks.

" _What? Sir, it's me. Link."_

"Oh, I see! Couldn't help coming to see the great Ingo Ranch, eh?"

" _The… the what?!"_

"Behold!"

Ingo waved his arms to indicate the glorious, empty ranch. Link looked around, but there wasn't a horse, cow, or cucco to be seen.

"Hey mister!" Navi buzzed up to Ingo. "Shouldn't this place have animals or something?"

"Buzz off! Those filthy animals are locked up where they belong, and that's where they'll stay until I get some help running this ranch that  _I_ own! Since you're here, I might as well put you to work."

Ingo raised his hand, and Link's body floated up off the ground.

" _Wha- Not again!"_

"The tools are in the barn, now hurry up and make yourself useful!"

Ingo flung his hand, and Link went flying. He slammed against the barn doors and fell in a heap.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!"

Navi darted angrily around Ingo's face, until he swung up and snatched her out of the air.

"Agh! Let me go!"

Link pulled himself together and ran over to him.

" _Ingo, what's wrong with you?! You're acting like a completely different person!"_

"That's a fine horse you have there, young man," Ingo said as he greedily eyed Epona. "I'll tell you what, boy. I'll make you a wager. Race me with that fine horse of yours, and I'll race using one of the horses from this ranch. If you win, I'll give you back your little friend here."

"What?!" shrieked Navi.

"But if I win, I get to keep that horse of yours."

" _Why would I ever agree to something like that?!"_

" _Master. The one you call Ingo. Observe his hands."_

At Fi's hint, Link eyed Ingo carefully.

" _There are jewels embedded in his palms. They look like the ones Ghirahim used."_

" _Correct, Master. Those jewels are the source of the evil aura I sensed earlier, and I calculate an 87% chance that they are the source of his newfound, telekinetic powers."_

" _Someone put those jewels in his hands while we were in Hyrule City. I'd take a wager it was Ganondorf."_

" _That is a very likely scenario, Master. In addition, I detect that the overall constitution of both jewels has been greatly weakened, by an internal source, since their installation."_

" _Ganondorf must've used those gems to brainwash Ingo, and that's why he's acting like this. He's been fighting their power this whole time, which is why they're so weak. But now he's losing, and we have to help him!"_

" _With enough force, Master, it's safe to determine that you could easily destroy the gems and free your uncle from his affliction. But to do so, you will have to increase your proximity without raising alarm, or he may use his telekinesis on you once more."_

" _I gotta get closer so I can smash those gems…"_

Link sighed and nodded his head toward Ingo.

"You'll take the bet, then? Fantastic! Your horse will soon be mine!"

"Link!" Navi hissed through her teeth. "What are you doing?!"

" _It's okay, Navi. I've got a plan."_

At that moment, Talon and Malon came riding in on the carriage.

"Ingo!" Talon called to him. "What's tha big idea, changin' the lock on the―"

Link ran in front of the carriage, flailing his arms. Talon yanked as hard as he could on the reins, forcing the horses to a grinding halt. He and Malon nearly fell forward out of their seats at the sudden stop.

"Link! What's wrong with you?!" Malon cried as she jumped from the carriage. "You know better than to―"

"Don't get any closer!" Navi shouted from Ingo's hand. "Link says Ingo's under some kind of spell that Ganondorf put on him!"

"He's WHAT?!"

"Oh, look. Spectators."

Ingo's other hand went up, and Malon flew through the air toward him. She writhed in the air helplessly above her uncle.

"What the hell, Uncle Ingo?! Put me down!"

"Why you!" Talon bellowed. "Ingo, you put ma girl down this instant!"

"New wager, young man. We race, and if you win, you get your friends back. But if I win, I keep your horse and your friends as my prisoners, and they'll work my ranch for the rest of their miserable lives!"

"What in tha world's gotten into you?! I don' care if you're ma brother, or that you're under some spell! Release my daughter, or you'll have hell ta pay!"

"I have no brother, you old blowhard! And as far as I'm concerned, you're all trespassing on private property! I could throw out each and every one of you outta here if I want!"

Link put his hand on Talon's shoulder before he could retort.

_"Let me handle this, sir."_

"My boy, I sure hope you know what your doin'."

He nodded, then turned to Ingo and nodded again.

"Excellent."

Ingo's hands dropped. Navi zipped out of Ingo's palm and over to Link, where she ducked into his cap. Malon fell flat on her butt with a thud.

"Ow! What is with you people lifting everyone else into the air?!"

"We'll race around the track surrounding the pasture. First one to make two full laps wins. Got it?"

Link remounted Epona, and made his way to the starting line. Ingo went to retrieve a horse from the stable, so while he waited, Link rubbed Epona's neck.

" _Think you can do it, Epona?"_

She shook her mane in response.

" _Don't worry. It won't matter if we win or not. I just gotta get close enough to Ingo to break those gems."_

" _Master, please be especially careful during this race. Your uncle will likely try to influence it in his favor by cheating."_

" _Thanks, Fi."_

"You ready, boy?" Ingo gruffed as he rode up on his horse. Link grinned.

_"Anytime, old man. Epona and I outraced you all the time when you weren't under Ganondorf's control, and we can do it now!"_

"You, girl!" Ingo pointed at Malon. "Start us off!"

"What? Why do I have to do it?"

Ingo lifted her again and brought her flying over. She skidded across the dirt, and stopped in front of the starting line.

"All right, geez! I'm not your ragdoll, you stupid jerk!"

She stood up and brushed the dirt off, then stood between the two horses and grudgingly held her arms up.

"On your marks," she grumbled, showing no hint of enthusiasm.

Link and Ingo leaned forward in their saddles and awaited the signal.

"Get set."

"HEEYA!"

Ingo struck the back of his horse's rump with a crop whip, and galloped away.

"HEY!" Malon screamed. "YOU LOUSY― GO! Stop him, Link!"

Link kicked Epona and took off after Ingo.

_"Fi was right! He cheated from the very start! Now he's gotten ahead of us!"_

"Hurry, Link!" Navi called. "He's already at the first turn!"

Ingo circled around the track and struck the horse with the whip again. His horse gave a high-pitched neigh at the strike.

_"He is hitting that horse way too hard!"_

"Uncle Ingo!" Malon cried out. "Stop! You're hurting her!"

He ignored her cries and used the whip again.

_"C'mon, Epona! Cheating or not, we can beat him!"_

Epona gave a loud whinny and accelerated. In spite of Ingo's whipping, she and Link slowly gained on him and his horse.

 _"A little bit closer_ …

Link grabbed hold of the saddle's horn and pulled his feet out of the stirrups. He stood on the seat, his knees bent in tightly, and prepared to jump.

 _"Just a little more_ …"

Epona inched closer and closer to the other horse, until she came up behind on its left.

_"NOW!"_

He leapt from his seat toward Ingo, but before Link could tackle him, something collided into him from the side.

_"HUH?!_

He and his unknown assailant tumbled to the side of the racetrack and went sprawling on the ground. When she realized her rider was missing, Epona swerved around and returned to where Link had collapsed.

_"Ow! What the heck just happened?!"_

He looked over and saw an equally ruffled Shiek recovering from the tumble.

_"Wha- Shiek?"_

"Well well," Ingo scoffed as he turned his horse around. "Someone's trying to play dirty."

"You would know!" Malon said angrily. "We want a rematch!"

"There are no rematches! Falling out of your saddle automatically disqualifies you, which means I win by default!"

_"Blast! That might've been my only chance to get close to him."_

"You two! Get to work!"

He lifted Malon and Talon into their air with one hand, then Link and Shiek with the other.

"And you two! Get lost!"

Link felt his body jerk backward as he and Shiek were sent careening up and over the barn and the main gate. When they finally landed several hundred feet outside the ranch, Shiek flipped in the air and planted his feet, bracing himself on his hand and skidding safely until he came to a stop. Link on the other hand, crashed onto his side, bounced, crashed again, and rolled across the field until he was lying face first in the dirt.

_"…OW!"_

"Link!" Navi flew out from his cap. "Are you okay?"

_"Yeah, I think so. A bit of a rough landing, and some scrapes here and there, but no harm done. Lucky for me the grass is pretty soft."_

"Well, c'mon! We gotta get back in there and save your family!"

"Wait," said Shiek, putting his hand in front of her. "Link's uncle sent us flying a thousand feet with little more than a wave of his hand. We can't go running blindly in there, or he'll just toss us out again. We need to think for a moment, and come up with a strategy."

"But what do we do?! He's got Link's sister and dad trapped in there! Not to mention Epona!"

_"Navi's right. If we need a plan, we better think fast."_

"I'm sorry, Link."

_"Huh? For what?"_

"For earlier. When I collided into you."

_"Oh, that. It's no big deal."_

"Yes it is. It's a very big deal. When I'm working, I'm usually by myself, with no one else to worry about. I was so busy trying to stop Ingo, it never occurred to me that you'd be doing the same thing. I got in your way while you were trying to help your family. So from here on out, you lead the way and I'll follow."

_"Um, okay?"_

"You're the leader, Link. Think you can come up with a plan?"

_"Maybe. Do you think we can scale the barn without Ingo noticing?"_

* * *

Malon and Talon were shoved roughly into the stable.

"When you're done in here, you'll take care of the cows. Don't come out until you're finished!"

With that, Ingo slammed the stable doors shut. They heard the latch close from outside.

"Did he just-"

"Yep," Talon replied. "We're locked in here."

"Nnnngh! That blockhead!"

"Calm down, girl. I'm sure Link and his friend'll do somethin'."

"They'd better!"

"In the meantime, we'd better get to work."

"Are you kidding?! There's no way I'm working for him! Not while he's like that!"

"I know, but how about working for them?"

Talon pointed to the horses, and Malon gasped. All the horses were locked in their stalls, each wearing a bridle with a leading rope attached. The ropes were tied so short to the stall gates that none of the horses could move their heads more than a few inches to either side. Some of the horses were neighing loudly and beating against their gates, but most had resigned and hung their heads low over the side, chewing irritably on their bits.

Malon raced over to the first horse she saw and began untying the miserable animal. Talon quickly followed suit.

"What did he do?! This one has such swollen gums!"

"He musta put these bridles on 'em right after we left, an' never took 'em off since. These horses have been tied up and chewin' on their bits for the last two days!"

The horse nickered and licked Malon's hands while she worked to remove its bridle.

"You poor thing! Don't worry, Dad and I are here. We'll take good care of you!"

Her eye caught the trough in the back of the horse's stall, and she realized it was empty.

"This horse doesn't have any food!"

"Neither does this one," Talon replied. "I'm willin' to bet he never bothered feedin' or waterin' 'em, either."

"I don't care if Uncle Ingo is under a spell! The second this is all said and done, I'm ringing him up by his ears! How could he do this to them?!"

The two worked quickly to remove the horses' bridles. Once they were untied, Talon grabbed a pitchfork from the wall and began pitching hay from the bales onto the floor.

"I'll keep at it with the hay, Malon. You get those horses outta their stalls so's they can eat."

She ran to each of the stalls and let the horses out one by one. The horses hungrily made their way over to where Talon was, and began pushing against each other as they munched on the hay.

"Atta girl," Talon soothed as he rubbed one of the horse's bellies. "You eat all you want. Now, let's get them some water."

This time, Malon sprinted over to the tub at the front end of the stable. She shoved its cork into the plug, then turned the faucet on at full blast. It quickly filled with cool water, and some of the horses wandered away from the hay to drink. Once their immediate needs were taken care of, Malon started counting the horses under her breath.

"Six seven eight nine ten, eleven? Epona's outside, and so are the two we took to Hyrule, and the one Ingo raced. Eleven plus those four is fifteen horses in total. We're missing one."

She looked over the horses again, identifying spot patterns, coat colors and manes.

"Oh no."

"Which one is it?"

"It's Barley! He's missing!"

"Shit," Talon groaned. Malon paced the stable and pulled on her hair.

"He was finally getting better! I was taking such good care of him before we left! What did Uncle Ingo do to him?! If he killed him because of all this, I'm gonna-"

The stable door creaked open, making both of them jump.

"Do you see them?" They heard a voice whisper. The familiar blue fairy peaked in through the door and whispered back, "They're here."

"Oh thank heavens!" Malon cried and started running toward the door.

"Shh!" Navi put a finger to her lips. Shiek appeared at the top of the door, hanging upside down from the roof.

"All right, Link. You're up."

Link hung down next to him, looked down at Malon and Talon, then fired a clawshot into the stable. The claw latched onto one of the high rafters in the ceiling, and pulled him in. He dangled upside down from the clawshot and gently put pressure on the trigger, extending the chain and lowering himself down to them. With Link in the stable, Shiek disappeared back up over the roof and out of sight.

_"Are you guys okay?"_

"We're fine, Link," Malon said. "But listen. Ingo's treated the horses so badly while we were gone! He tied them to their gates so they couldn't move at all, and none of them had any food or water while we were in Hyrule City. It's a good thing we cleaned this place of all that poop last week, or else some of the horses might have gotten really sick, or even died."

_"Have either of you been in the barn or house?"_

"No, not yet. After he threw you guys out, Uncle Ingo locked us in here. I don't know what he's done to the cows and cuccos, but it can't be better than this. And what's worse, Barley's gone missing!"

_"The rickety stallion you bought a few months ago?"_

"Yes! He's not anywhere in the stable! I don't know what Uncle Ingo did with him, but if he hurt a single hair on his head, I swear I'll-"

The sound of a bird's whistle came from outside, and Link shot up into the rafters.

"Link?! Hey! Where are you-"

"What's going on in here?! Why's this door open?!"

The sound of Ingo's angry voice made Malon and Talon jump again.

"Nothin', sir!" Talon managed to stammer out. "W-we're just workin' hard as we can! Ya know, for the Great Ingo Ranch!"

"That's right!" Malon played along. "Nothing less than the best for the Great Ingo!"

"Good! Let's keep it that way! There better not be any funny stuff goin' on!"

Ingo slammed the door shut a second time and locked them back in. As soon as the door closed, Link lowered back down.

"That was close," Talon breathed a sigh of relief.

_"Listen carefully. Shiek and I have to keep you locked in here, or else Ingo will know something's up and might try to hurt you. Will you be okay while we handle him?"_

"I don't care what happens to me! Dad and I will be fine, but you've gotta snap Uncle Ingo out of whatever spell he's in, or he'll abuse these animals to their dying breath!"

_"Are you sure?"_

"Positive!"

_"Okay. I have to go, but we'll let you out the second we take care of Ingo. Promise!"_

Link gave a whistle, and the stable door creaked open again. He shot his other clawshot at the frame of the door and flew outside. Shiek's hand extended down to Link, who took it and climbed back onto the roof. They closed the stable door one last time, and Link used his clawshot to put the latch back in place.

_"They haven't been in any of the other buildings."_

"Then we have no way of knowing whether they're secure or not. We'll have to investigate them after we're finished with your uncle."

"Link?" Navi asked. "Who's Barley?"

_"He's the oldest horse on the ranch. Malon bought him from a rather mean salesman a few months back. We're pretty sure he abused Barley before we got him, because he was pretty sick, and mostly skin and bones. But Malon worked day and night to get him back on his feet. He was finally starting to act like a normal horse when we left for Hyrule City. If he's missing, it can't be good."_

"I'm afraid we'll have to worry about missing horses later," said Shiek. "We still have the matter at hand."

_"Right."_

The three peered down carefully at the pasture, and found Ingo. He was trying desperately to pull Epona's reins, but she stood firm against his tugs, pulling back just as hard.

"You stupid mare!" He screamed. "Do as I say, or I'll turn you over to the glue factory!"

_"There's no way Epona will go anywhere with him like that."_

"Which means he's distracted. Now's the perfect time to try and get those jewels out of his hands."

"What about that boomerang, Link?" said Navi. "The one you got from the dungeon under Hyrule Castle."

_"Oh yeah!"_

Link reached into the tiny pouch Zelda had given him, and pulled out the boomerang. Its red, center gem glowed brightly.

"That'll do it," Shiek replied in modest surprise. "If you can hit him from here, he'll be dazed long enough for us to get over there and pin him down."

"And even if you miss and hit something else," Navi pointed out. "It'll distract him even more, and we can still get him!"

_"Either way, it's worth a shot."_

Link took the boomerang in hand, arched his arm carefully, licked his lips, and threw as hard as he could. The boomerang spun through the air as it sailed toward Ingo. Unfortunately for them, it missed its target, and instead hit Epona's rear flank. She gave a high-pitched neigh and took off running, with Ingo still attached to her reins.

"AAAAAAGH!"

_"Oh crap!"_

Link and Shiek jumped off the stable and ran after the enraged mare, with Ingo dragging through the dirt behind her.

"STOP THIS CRAZY HORSE!"

_"Shiek! Got any ideas?"_

"You tell me, Link."

_"What?!"_

"You're in charge. Just tell me what to do."

_"But I don't-"_

Epona made a sharp turn, forcing them to stop and redirect after her.

_"Oh, fine! I'm the only one who can stop Epona! If I get to her, can you get to Ingo and stop him from attacking us?"_

"I believe so."

_"Then let's do it!"_

"Which way should I go?"

_"What? Oh, um_ _… I'll go left, you go right?"_

"Yes, sir!"

Link sprinted up to Epona from her left while Shiek trailed behind Ingo on the right.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Ingo screamed at him.

"Yeah yeah, just hold on."

Link grabbed onto Epona's saddle and hoisted himself up onto her back.

_"Come on, Epona! Slow down!"_

He clutched at her mane and tugged firmly, but she came grinding to a halt and began bucking wildly. Ingo flew up at her jarring kicks, and the reins snapped out of his hands. Shiek was upon him immediately.

_"Whaa! Epona, stop! It's me!"_

"Link!"

Link turned, and despite his own head jerking up and down with Epona's bucks, he saw Shiek wrestling on the ground with Ingo, struggling greatly to pin his arms down, and failing.

"I think the jewels in his hands made him stronger, too! I don't know how much longer I can hold him!"

_"Fi! Can you help him?"_

_"Affirmative."_

Fi appeared from the Master Sword on Link's back, floated over to where they grappled, and opened her flowing arms wide. A brilliant light emitted from her body. Ingo screamed in pain at the blinding light, while Shiek guarded his vision with both of his arms. Link jumped off Epona, ran over to them, and pinned Ingo's left arm while Shiek pinned his right.

"RELEASE ME AT ONCE! I AM THE GREAT INGO OF THIS RANCH!"

In unison, they raised their clenched fists and brought them smashing down onto the palms of Ingo's hands. Both jewels shattered instantly and vanished, and Ingo passed out. A few moments passed, and Link finally exhaled.

 _"Finally_ …"

They climbed off of him and stepped back, both trying to catch their breath. Epona, who'd stopped bucking wildly, stared at the two and brayed nervously. Link turned to her, held both hands out, and slowly approached her.

_"Easy girl, it's just me. I'm not gonna hurt you."_

Her braying slowed to heavy breathing, and she sniffed Link's fingers.

_"There you go._ _Shiek, can you let the others out of the stable?"_

"Will do."

Link moved around to Epona's side and began removing the saddle and bridle.

_"I think you've had enough excitement for one day."_

Shiek walked to the stable and unlocked the door. Upon opening the doors wide, the trapped horses raced out into the pasture, and Malon and Talon peered out nervously.

"Is it safe?" asked Talon.

"It's all right," Shiek replied. "Your brother's been taken care of."

"Good!" Malon answered as she stomped out. "Now where is he, so I can beat him 'til he bleeds?!"

"Ugh…"

Ingo sat up from the ground, moaning in pain and rubbing the back of his head. Talon walked over and knelt down next to him.

"You all right there, buddy?"

"Nngh, my head's killin' me. Where'd that kid go?! He was here a second ago!"

"Kid? What kid?"

"I'll knock his lights out when I get my hands on him! What're you doing here, Talon?"

"Wha'dya mean?"

"Didn't you leave for Hyrule City a few minutes ago?"

"Ingo, it's been two and a half days since we left! We jus' got back!"

"What?!"

"Link, are you getting this, son?"

_"I sure am. What do you think, Shiek?"_

"It sounds like the implanted jewels prohibited him from forming any memories while under Ganondorf's control."

"Jewels? Ganondorf? What the heck is goin' on?! Talon, I demand an explanation!"

Shiek knelt down next to Ingo.

"You don't know me, but I'm a friend. We can explain everything, but right now I need you to tell me something. The kid you were describing, what did he look like?"

"The kid? Why, he was the one from the Royal Army! He came in here ridin' on his horse and gave us that war declaration!"

"But that's-" Navi started.

_"Rio!"_

"After you guys left for the city, I went into the barn, but he was in there and attacked me! Next thing I know, I'm wakin' up in the middle of the pasture with all of you."

_"Do you think Ganondorf ordered Rio to come here, and force Ingo to take over the ranch?"_

"It's very possible. It sounds to me like he wanted Rio to slow you down, and delay starting your journey."

"Journey?" Ingo's ears pricked. "What journey? What're you-"

He finally took notice of Link, and saw the Master Sword on his back.

"Talon? Is he…"

"Malon," Talon turned to face his daughter. "Why don't we go and check on the rest of the animals? You too, Ingo. The three of us gotta lot ta talk about."

Ingo groaned as he stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Not yet," Shiek said. "We don't know what else has happened while you and your family were gone. The other buildings could be booby-trapped for all we know. We need to proceed cautiously."

_"Fi, can you sense anymore evil auras coming from anywhere?"_

"Negative," she answered. "With the destruction of your uncle's mind-control devices, I cannot detect any additional sources of energy emanating from this ranch. Even so, it would be wise to heed Shiek's warning, and maintain caution as you investigate your home."

_"Thanks, Fi. I think that's all for now."_

"You're welcome, Master. Do not hesitate to call if you have further need of my assistance."

She disappeared into Link's sword, and the others gathered together.

"I think Dad, Uncle Ingo and I should check out the barn," Malon declared. "It'll give us a chance to check on the cows."

"Good idea," Shiek agreed. "Barns don't have rooms, closed doors or corners for anyone to hide behind, so you should be safe, at least in theory. Link, Navi and I will check the house for you. If anything happens, you can yell for us."

"What the-"

Ingo pulled his hand from his pocket, holding a slip of folded paper.

"This ain't mine."

"May I?"

He handed the paper to Shiek, who unfolded and examined it. His eyes moved from left to right as he scanned the paper, then squinted in suspicion.

"What is it?"

"Judging by the context, I'd say it's a note to Link. From Rio."

"What's it say?" Navi asked. She sat herself on Shiek's shoulder while he read aloud.

"'Dear Idiot, I left a little present for your little girlfriend in her room. Hope she likes it.' It's signed 'Link,' with a heart next to his name."

"Where does he get off calling himself by Link's name?!" Navi protested, stomping her foot. "There's only one Link, and he's right here!"

"Who does he mean by 'Link's little girlfriend?'" Malon asked in annoyance.

"Unfortunately," Shiek sighed as he refolded the note. "I think he's referring to you."

"Me?!"

"Which means Link and I need to be extra careful when checking the house. If he left something dangerous behind, we'll dispose of it immediately and inform you at once."

_"We can handle whatever that creep Rio did, Malon. Let us take care of it."_

"But…" Malon started to say, but Link walked away before she could finish, leaving her to her father and uncle. Talon and Ingo headed for the barn, but she stood and watched Link and Shiek make their way to the house.

"Come on, girl," Talon called to her. "Let's go."

"Dad?" She said quietly. "Link is really leaving… isn't he?"

"Do you have a key for the house?"

_"Yeah, but you might wanna back up."_

They unlocked and opened the front door. The second it opened, cuccos stampeded out, clawing, climbing and trampling over each other to escape from the house, desperate to get into the pasture.

"Gosh! Those poor things!"

_"What're they saying, Navi?"_

"Mostly some mean things I'd rather not repeat. They're angry because no one's fed them or let them out for days."

"Let's go, you two."

Once the parade of cuccos ended, they peered into the empty roost. Broken eggs that had been pecked to bits laid in the nests, and the floor was littered with droppings and scattered feathers, but ultimately the room was quiet.

_"Looks like the coast is clear."_

"For now. Let's be careful, though."

"Is this where you sleep Link?"

_"It's where we live, but we sleep upstairs away from the cuccos. This way."_

Link led the way up the stairs, with Navi clinging to his cap, and Shiek following behind.

"Link?" asked Navi. "How come you let the cuccos sleep inside your house?"

_"I asked Talon that when I was a kid, and he said the downstairs area is a safer coop than any he could build. Since we live right next to the woods, we get a lot of animals that come through looking for prey. Wolfi are the most common."_

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Shiek remarked. "It is your province's official animal, after all."

_"Ordona Wolfos, huh?"_

Link stopped at the very top step.

"Link? What's wrong?"

_"I remember something Sahasrahla told me."_

"You got to meet him, then? In the Temple of Time?"

_"Yeah. He was telling me all these things about the Legend of the Hero."_

"What about?"

_"How he's related to the way we celebrate the New Year. Sahasrahla said that the year we enter will represent the province the Hero will come from."_

"Well, today marks the year of the Ordona Wolfos. You are from here, are you not?"

_"I've spent my whole life here, right next to these woods. And when I'm not here on the ranch, I'm visiting one of the other ranches, or seeing my friends in Ordon Village."_

"Then I suppose that part of the legend came true, didn't it?"

_"To be honest,_ _I have no idea whether I was born in this province or not, but I can't think of a better place to call home."_

Link folded his arms and gazed down sadly at the cuccos nests.

 _It's funny, though._ _It's only now that I'm leaving that I finally realize it. It's hard to believe I hated this place a few days ago, because I felt so trapped. But now that I'm free to leave, I'm recalling so many memories, and it's… well, I'm really going to miss this place._ "

Shiek put his hand on Link's shoulder.

"You'll have plenty of time to say your goodbyes. I promise. We won't leave until tomorrow morning."

_"Really? That's- I mean, thanks. Sorry, I guess I'm getting nostalgic."_

"It's okay," Navi said, patting his shoulder. "It's okay to be homesick, Link. I miss my home, too."

"Come on, you two. We need to make sure the house is safe. You can be sad all you want afterwards."

Navi shot Shiek a slightly annoyed look, but acquiesced.

"Okay," she mumbled, and they walked up to the upstairs door.

"Who wants to go first?"

"I guess I will," Navi offered. "Princess Zelda said I was a guardian fairy, after all."

Link cracked the door open enough for her to slide inside.

_"See anything?"_

"No, but-" her sentence trailed off, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ugh! Eugh! Gross!"

_"What's wrong?"_

"It smells like something died in here!"

Link smelt the scent immediately after she mentioned it, and plugged his nose.

_"Gah! That's awful! I wonder if we left the freezer open after we left."_

"Link," Shiek's voice took an alert tone. "Lead me to Malon's room."

_"It's that way."_

Link covered his nose the whole way down the hall, but despite his best efforts the smell only got stronger as they approached the bedroom. The door was closed.

"Whatever it is," Navi gasped, trying not to breath in. "It's coming from in there!"

_"I sure hope this wasn't what Rio talked about in his letter."_

"There's only one way to find out."

Shiek placed his hand on the door knob, and slowly pushed it open. They came upon the grisly scene inside, and Navi made a sound that resembled half-screaming, and half-sobbing.

_"OH MY GOD!"_

Link felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach, while Shiek gazed upon Rio's gift in sorrow.

"Your sister is not going to like this."

_"I'LL KILL HIM! The next time I see him, I swear to God I'm gonna kill that bastard!"_

"I can feel it!" Navi sobbed, her whole body trembling. "I can feel the moment it died! It hurts! It hurts so bad!"

She clung onto Link's wrist.

"Make it go away, Link! Please! I can't bear it!"

Link stopped his outrage long enough to take the crying Navi out of the room, shutting the door halfway behind him. Shiek drew a long, frustrated breath, and covered half of his face with one hand.

"At least that solves the mystery of the missing horse."

"Link?" Malon's voice called from downstairs. "Are you still in here?"

Shiek heard Navi cry out, "NO! Malon, don't come in here!"

She was followed by Malon crying out in disgust, "Holy- what is that smell?!"

He heard her come up the stairs and into the hallway, then stop.

"Link, let me go!"

"Please don't go in there, Malon!"

"Why not? It's my room!"

"But it's really bad! Link says you'll cry if you go in there!"

"Link, Navi," Shiek called out. "She deserves to know. Let her come in."

"But-"

"The truth is hard to swallow, but it has to be done. Let her go, Link."

It was a few moments before he heard Malon resume walking and push the door open.

"What's so-"

Her eyes opened wide in horror at the sight of Rio's present. Lying on top of her bed was Barley's decapitated head. The dried blood from the stallion's neck had flowed out onto the sheets, staining the center of the bed a deep red. Its eyes were glazed and wide open, and its tongue drooped out of its open mouth, its gaping teeth clearly visible. The bedroom window was wide open, and flies were droning loudly as they buzzed around and on the head. A few maggots had already entered into the open flesh of its neck, and were digging their way around the exposed muscles and bone.

Link walked in after Malon, but not before she started hyperventilating.

"Wh- why?!"

Paralyzed and unable to look away, she stared at the grotesque head. She held one hand on her chest, and the other clenching at her stomach. She tried to speak, but all that came out was stammered gasps.

Suddenly, she bolted, shoving Link out of her way as she shot out of the house.

_"Malon!"_

Link raced after her as she ran down the steps and outside. Before she could get very far, she tripped and fell onto her hands and knees, and wailed. Her anguished cries brought Talon and Ingo running out of the barn and to her side.

"MALON!" Talon called as he scooped her up in his arms. "My darlin' daughter, what in the world is wrong?!"

"RIO!"

"Rio?"

She continued hyperventilating as she spoke and sobbed at the same time.

"I- I thought… I thought he was my friend! But he stabbed Link in the Temple of Time! And just now, he killed Barley! He left Barley's head on my bed, and I just- I can't-"

She broke off as her sobbing grew louder and more uncontrollable.

"WHY?! WHY IS HE SO MEAN?!"

She said no more. She buried her face into her father's chest and wept, her shoulders shaking the entire time.

* * *

_"Why did he do this?!"_

"Probably to get at you," Shiek answered.

_"But why?!"_

"Because he knew hurting your sister and making her cry would upset you more than anything he could do to you directly."

_"Well it certainly worked!"_

"Link, calm down."

Shiek scrubbed his hands in the sink while he talked with Link. He had cleaned Malon's room while Link and Ingo finished caring for and letting the cows into the pasture, so that Talon could sit with his daughter outside, rocking her back and forth in his arms.

The others wanted the horse's head disposed of, but at Malon's protest, Shiek had placed it into a crate and moved the crate outside. She wanted to bury it, since the rest of the horse was nowhere to be found. No one objected to her wishes. Since the blood on the sheets had dried long before they'd returned to the ranch, there was no choice but to dispose of them. They wondered what to do about her mattress, since the blood had soaked through and stained it as well, but Malon quickly answered that question, too, when she insisted she would never sleep on it again as long as she lived. It too was thrown away.

With the smell finally gone, and his gruesome task of disinfecting the bedroom complete, Shiek shook the remaining water from his hands and wiped them on his legs. Link was sitting at the dining table, so he joined him.

"This is exactly the kind of reaction Rio wants from you. You've got to keep a level head."

_"I can't! He hurt Malon! I'll never forgive him as long as I live!"_

"And you shouldn't, given the nature of his existence. But you've got to stop for a second, and look at the bigger picture."

_"What picture is that supposed to be?"_

"Link, Rio did this days ago, before you had even arrived in Hyrule City. That means he knew you were the Hero of Time, long before you knew it yourself. He knew where you lived, and knew about the people you care for the most. He used that to his advantage to hit you where it hurts most."

Link's eyes went from rage to terror when he reached the conclusion Shiek was hinting at.

_"He- he won't come back, will he?! What if he keeps coming back and tormenting my family while I'm gone?! I can't leave if-"_

"Not so fast. As bad as it sounds, I think this was a one time thing."

_"How do you know?"_

"Because Rio was only here on Ganondorf's orders. His job was to lure you into the city with the fake war declaration, and then hypnotize Ingo into taking over the ranch. Killing Barley was probably just an act of derision on his part."

_"Are you sure? Because if I leave and I find out something else happened while I was gone, I'll never forgive myself!"_

"If there's only one redeeming quality to Ganondorf's minions, it's that they're loyal to a fault. I doubt Rio will come back, because right now he's with him, doing his bidding wherever they are in Hyrule. And even if Rio isn't loyal to Ganondorf, he wouldn't leave his side anyway."

_"Why not?"_

"Because Ganondorf created him, Link."

_"He- what? How?"_

"I'm not entirely sure yet. I have a few suspicions, but I can't say anything with certainty. Finding out how was one of the reasons why I wanted to travel with you. But either way, since Ganondorf created Rio, it wouldn't be that hard to destroy him if he did anything to anger him, or make him question his loyalty. Rio wouldn't risk dying just to come back here, so he probably won't, unless Ganondorf specifically orders him to."

_"Do you think Ganondorf would do that? Order him to come back?"_

"I highly doubt it. Rio might be a bully who gets his kicks out of hurting others, but Ganondorf is more interested in power, and doesn't care about the status of your ranch, or your family living here. You saw how he acted when Malon tried to intervene at the Temple of Time, right?"

_"Yeah, he didn't give two eggs about her. He basically told her to buzz off and mind her own business."_

"Exactly, and as long as Ganondorf doesn't care about what happens on your ranch, neither will Rio. I'll let Lady Impa know what happened before we leave tomorrow. She can send a visitor to the ranch now and then to check in on things, but you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

_"Okay. If you're sure, then I trust you._ _Thank you for cleaning Malon's room, by the way. I don't know if any of us could have done it instead."_

"It was no trouble. I've had worse if you're willing to believe that. A lot of my training with Lady Impa involved medical and anatomy studies, so I've had to clean up my share of cadavers while under her tutelage."

_"Shiek_ _… how old are you?"_

"I'm 23 years old. Why?"

_"No reason. Just curious, I guess."_

A knock came at the door that led downstairs, and Talon peeked his head through.

"Is it okay ta come back in?"

"It's all right. The room's finished."

He entered the living room, holding Malon's hand in his as she followed. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her lashes were clumpy from the water that still clung to them. Her breathing was ragged and she occasionally hiccuped, but she had stopped crying. Link stood from the table and went to her.

_"Malon? Are you okay?"_

"I don't know," she murmured. "I'm better than I was, but I'm not sleeping in there tonight. Thank you, Shiek. For working so hard. But I just can't. Not tonight, not for a while."

She finally moved her head up to look at Link.

"Is it okay if I sleep in your room while you're gone?"

_"Of course it is! You can move in there if you want!"_

"I don't know about that, but…"

Her lips began to quiver. She'd run out of tears an hour ago, but still she buried her face in her hands. Link embraced her and ran his fingers through her hair.

_"I'm so sorry, Malon. I know how much you loved Barley."_

"It's not just that."

_"What is it?"_

"The sheets that were on my bed," she moaned painfully. "They were Mom's. They were one of the few things I had left of her. And now they're ruined!"

She wrapped her arms around him, planted her face into his chest, and cried again. It did not take her as long to finish as she had with her father, but the end result was the same. Link pulled her closer in while Shiek, Talon and Navi looked on in mournful silence.

Talon spoke only when she finished.

"Link," he said gravely. "We need to talk. Will you be all right if I take him, darlin'?"

"I think so," Malon sniffed as she wiped her nose. "But can I keep Navi for a bit?"

"Huh?" Navi blurted at the seemingly random request. "But why?"

"I think it'll help me feel better if I can talk to a girl."

_"Of course you can, Malon."_

"Are you sure, Link?" Navi asked. "If I stay here, you won't be able to talk with Talon."

_"That's okay. I have a feeling he'll be doing most of the talking anyway."_

"While we're at it," Shiek announced. "I wanted to have a word with you myself, Malon."

She whirled around at Shiek with a surprised look on her face, but his eyes told her everything she needed to know. She took a deep breath.

"Okay…"

"Try not ta upset her anymore than she already is," Talon groaned.

"Of course not, sir. I wouldn't dream of it."

"Come along, boy."

At his blunt request, Link followed Talon down the stairs, closing the door softly behind him.

"I'm sorry, Shiek," Malon started, "But can I sit where you're sitting? I don't even want to look at the bedroom door, much less go inside."

He stood from his seat without objection and sat in the next chair over while Malon sat down, her back to the hallway that led to her bedroom.

"It's not fair," she mumbled. "Why did it have to be Barley?"

She put her hands on her face as she leaned her elbows on the table.

"I got up early every day for three weeks straight, to feed him mash from my hands. And every night, I stayed up late to soak his ankles in hot water. We even moved him to the first stall in front of the stable so he could get in and out easier. He was old, and he was going to die soon anyway, but he was finally getting better! The whole reason I bought him was so he could have a home to die comfortably in! Of all the horses on the ranch, why did Rio have to kill  _him_?!"

"I'm sorry, Malon. I know this is hurting you a lot, but I need you to be strong, if only for a moment, so that I can tell you what you need to hear."

He leaned in close before continuing.

"Do you still want to know why Rio is as mean as you think he is?"

"Of course I do! How could anyone be so cruel?!"

"Rio is not human. He is not a bad-boy teenager with anti-social tendencies. He is a monster, created by Ganondorf solely for the purpose of helping him take over Hyrule. He does not understand the concepts of kindness or restraint; or if he does, he chooses to ignore them outright. He is vicious and indulgent, and does not care about anyone's feelings other than his own. He'll do whatever he wants to anyone he wants, even if it's only for his own amusement.

"Since that is the kind of person Rio is, what kind of person do you think Ganondorf might be? You saw him for yourself in the Temple of Time, so you must have some idea."

"I don't want to imagine what Ganondorf must be like, but I bet he's at least a million times worse than Rio, if that's what you're getting at."

"Do you understand then?"

Malon thought for a long time before answering.

"…I understand. I know Link needs to leave, so he can find and stop him. When are you two leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"So soon… Are you sure you… no, never mind. I wish Link could stay, even if only for one more day, but I get it. I will miss him terribly, but after everything that's happened, and after everything Dad told me, I see now more than ever why he needs to go."

At Malon's mention of Talon, Shiek raised an eyebrow.

"What did your father tell you?"

"When we were in the barn, and you and Link were checking out the house, Dad said he knew that Link was the Hero of Time, ever since we were kids. I wanted to talk to Link about it. It's why I came into the house earlier, but when I saw Barley, I forgot all about it."

"Interesting," Shiek thought aloud. "Did he tell you how he found out Link was the Hero?"

"He didn't. He said someone told him."

"Did he say who?"

* * *

Link and Talon were leaning against the wall of the barn in awkward silence. Link watched Talon carefully, but he had yet to say a word.

"Son," he finally said after several minutes. "I've been rackin' my brain tryin' to make sense of all this, tryin' ta find the right words. But I ain't as smart as Malon, and I'm no good when it comes to stuff like this, so I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I knew all along, ever since you were just a tyke, that you'd be the Hero of Time."

Link's mouth dropped.

"Do you remember when you were a boy, when we were sittin' down at dinner, and you told Ingo an' me that you saw a wolfos made outta light in the woods?"

Link strained visibly to think, but ended up shaking his head.

It was the year you an' Malon went to Ordon Village for me, when you lost your voice. Do you remember?"

This time, he nodded in response.

"When you were even younger, not even five years old, I saw that same wolfos. It came to the ranch an' called me out into the forest. I went there an' saw it face to face with my own eyes."

 _"So you saw it, too_.  _Then it wasn't just a dream_

"When I met it in the woods, it told me so many things that I can't even remember half of anymore. But one thing stuck out the most, and it's what I've known for all these years. It told me that one day, when you were big 'n' strong, you'd have to leave the ranch, and face dangers beyond anythin' I'd ever comprehend. It told me that you'd have a great destiny, one that involved fightin' the forces of evil and savin' Hyrule from destruction.

"I never told you, because I wanted you and Malon to have as much a normal life as you could, before any of that came ta pass. I've done ma best to give you the best home I could, but watchin' you grow up and become everything you are now has been the hardest thing I ever had ta deal with. Every day we lived on this ranch together, was another day closer to when you'd have to leave us, an' maybe never come back.

"But as hard as it was for me, I knew it'd be even harder for Malon, when she found out for herself. You two were like peas in a pod growin' up, always stuck at the hip. You were the perfect brother to her, and for that I'll always be grateful, but I knew the day would come when she'd have to cry as she watched you leave this place behind, and that was just too painful."

"But never…"

Talon's voice suddenly shifted from regretful to furious.

"Never in a million years, did I ever think I'd see the day when my daughter would give her trust to a boy, only ta have that boy come right back and hurt her so bad that she'd cry in my arms the way she did! No father ever wants ta see their daughter like that!"

Talon slapped his hands onto Link's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"Link, when you leave, you do what you gotta do. But if you ever see that boy again, you'd better make him pay! For Malon's sake and mine! I'd kill him myself if I thought I'd get the chance, but even an old fool like me knows that just ain't possible. So it's up ta you to tell him that no one gets away with hurtin' a man's daughter the way he did!"

Link frowned angrily, and nodded at Talon with certainty.

"You're a good boy, Link. You always have been, and I know that's why you gotta leave. It does me good to see the man you've become. I may not have birthed you, but you were the son I always wanted. No matter where you go or what you do, know that you go with my blessin'. And no matter how far away you are, you'll always have a home here."

Link smiled at Talon with wet eyes. Then, to both of their shock, Link stepped forward and hugged Talon.

"Now now, boy," Talon said as he hugged him back, his voice cracking. "You're gonna make this old man cry."

 _"Thank you_ …  _for everything. You have no idea how much this means to me."_

They were still hugging when Shiek and Malon came out of the house. At first, Malon walked quickly out of the house, her hands clenched as she wore the bravest look she could muster. But when she saw Link and Talon hugging, she stopped and smiled.

"Oh, Dad."

"C'mere, girl," Talon extended his hand to her. She joined in the hug, and they held each other for a long time.

"Link," Malon said when they let go. "I have a present for Rio, too. Next time you see him, I need you to punch him a dozen times in the face for me."

_"I'll be sure to deliver it to him."_

"A baker's dozen," she added, and he laughed.

* * *

Though they were sad to see him leave, Malon and Talon eagerly helped Link pack his belongings that evening.

_"Are you sure it's okay for me to take Epona?"_

"Boy," Talon chuckled. "That horse is no good to us if you ain't here! She don't let no one else ride her, she won't carry any pack, and she refuses to be drawn to any carriage or plow! She's the most stubborn thing to live on this ranch, and that's after considerin' the fact that Malon lives here, too!"

"Hey!" Malon laughed. "I'm standing right here, you know!"

"Besides, you've got a long ways ahead of ya. You're gonna need a mount if you wanna make it very far."

" He's right, Link," Shiek said. "Unless you planned on crossing the country on foot."

_"Good point."_

"You better take these," Talon said as he gave Link grooming supplies for Epona. "Just cuz you're on the road don't mean you shouldn't take care of your horse."

"And I know how you are about getting hurt," Malon added as she gave him a giant first aid kit. "So you better take this with you, too. And…"

She held out a thick cookbook.

"I don't know how much help it'll be, but if you're spending the night under a tree someplace and starving to death, who knows? Maybe it'll help."

They layered Link in more and more items they felt would be helpful. Talon gave Link Epona's saddle, bridle, and saddle blanket, as well as a wool blanket and a sleeping mat, and fifty spare rupees he managed to scrounge up.

"Take mine, too," Malon said, dumping the contents of her purse. "It's the leftover money I didn't get to spend while we were in Hyrule City."

"Don't give him too much to carry," Shiek remarked. "The more he takes with him, the more he'll have to cart around."

"I know, I know. I just want to make sure he's taken care of."

"He'll be in good hands. You needn't worry."

They did one last inventory check before relenting.

"I guess…I guess that's it then," Malon hesitated. "You're leaving tomorrow."

_"Yeah…I guess so."_

"I'm, uh… I'll go get dinner started."

Without another word, she walked off awkwardly to the kitchen area of the house.

_"Maybe I'll look through my room, see if there's anything I want in there."_

Link walked down the hallway that led to his room, his footsteps echoing loudly against the walls. He pushed the bedroom door open and looked inside. With only the furniture as decorations, the room felt emptier than usual. The only personal possession in the room was the sword Rusl gave him last week, resting on the bed.

 _I never realized I owned so little. If I knew I'd be leaving like this, I would've tried harder to live in here_."

He sat down on the bed and gazed at the sword.

_"Should I bother taking it? I have the Master Sword, but Rusl made this just for me."_

He picked the sword up and held it in both hands.

_"He did a really good job, too. It's too bad he gave it to me when he did. I guess I should leave it."_

Before he could put the sword back on the bed, the sword turned white and began to glow.

_"What the-?! What's going on?!"_

He felt the sword's form begin to fade in his hands, and when the light disappeared, so had the sword. He looked for it frantically, looking under his shoes and arms, then turned in a full circle. He even got down on his hands and knees to look under the desk.

_"What just happened?! Where did it go?! I had it right there!"_

_"Master, I have critical information regarding the Master Sword, which I think you will find relevant to your current issue."_

Upon hearing Fi's voice, Link stood back up, and she appeared before him.

"When you held the Ordon short sword in your hand, you inadvertently unlocked one of the Master Sword's abilities."

_"I did?"_

"Yes, the Master Sword has the ability to absorb weapon signatures into its database, and take the forms of those said weapons whenever you wish."

_"Wait, so the Master Sword just absorbed Rusl's sword? Is that where it went?"_

"That is correct, Master. From this point on, if you ever wish to wield the Ordon short sword, you need only draw the Master Sword while envisioning it in your mind."

_"So if I imagine Rusl's sword while drawing the Master Sword, it'll turn into Rusl's Sword?"_

"Correct. I suggest trying it for yourself."

Link closed his eyes hesitantly and pictured the sword in his mind. He remembered the moment Rusl gave it to him, and how happy it had made him. He drew the Master Sword and opened his eyes. Low and behold, there was the Ordon sword Rusl gave him.

_"Whoa! That's awesome!"_

"'Awesome' is certainly a word to describe it."

Link looked up at Fi, and did a double-take.

_"Fi! What happened to you?!"_

Fi's face, body, hair and dress had changed colors from blue to a dull silver. In place of her flowing blue arms were tight, brown sleeves with leather-gloved hands. Her netted leggings were gone, and in their place were grey stockings that ended in brown tap shoes. Her entire form had changed to match the appearance of the Ordon sword.

"The Master Sword and I are one and the same, Master Link. When you changed its appearance, you changed mine as well. When you wish to return the Master Sword to its normal state, you need only sheath it in the scabbard, and I too will return to my normal state.

"Please keep in mind that this ability is limited to single-bladed weapons. The Master Sword cannot take on the forms of blunt, spiked, thrown, launched, or multi-bladed weapons. Therefore, it cannot absorb weapons such as clubs, hammers, maces, spears, javelins, bows, arrows, et cetera. The list of incompatible weapons goes on, but to put it simply, the Master Sword can transform only into other swords and similarly bladed weapons."

_"Well, that's too bad. I was kind of hoping I could use the Master Sword as a morning star, or something like that."_

"I'm afraid not, my master. In order to do that, you will need to acquire the Master Club instead."

Link did another double-take.

_"There's a Master Club, too?!"_

Fi paused before she spoke again.

"It seems my attempt at what humans call 'humor' was unsatisfactory. I must recalculate."

 _"Attempt at_ … _humor? Did you_ _… did you just tell a joke?"_

"Forgive me, Master. It was not my place to make such a comment."

_"No, no! It's okay! I just wasn't expecting it at all! I liked it!"_

Link couldn't help laughing at himself.

_"I'm sorry, Fi! It was a good joke, honest!"_

"In that case, was my attempt satisfactory?"

_"Yeah, it was."_

For the first time since he'd met her, Fi's face lit up in a smile.

"Thank you, Master. This experience has helped me acquire a better understanding of humans, even if only a little. I will store this memory in my databases, where it will be safe for further use."

Link couldn't help blushing at her smile.

 _"Oh, um_ …  _you're welcome, I guess."_

"If you have further need of assistance, you know where to find me."

She was still smiling when she disappeared into the Master Sword.

 _"She sure is pretty when she smiles. For a sword, anyway_ …  _Wait, what am I saying?! That sounded a lot than I wanted it to!"_

He shook his head, sheathed the sword, and walked out of the room. When he returned to the living room, Shiek and Navi were seated at the table and conversing.

"That's really… deep," Navi said to Shiek. "I had no idea it was so complicated."

"It's not something anyone could fully understand, so I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"They must really like each other, if they've had all that time to get to know each other."

_"Who must really like each other?"_

"LINK!"

Violently startled, Navi fell off the table, forgot her wings existed, and tumbled to the floor.

_"Navi?! Are you okay?"_

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" She shouted as she climbed back up onto the table. "You gave me a heart attack!"

_"I'll take that as a yes. Who were you talking about?"_

"Nothing!" She screamed, darting her eyes. "Nobody! None of your business!"

"Don't mind her, Link. Do you have everything you need?"

_"I think so. I guess all that's really left is the actual leaving."_

"How ready do you feel?"

_"It doesn't matter how ready I feel. Princess Zelda's been taken who knows where by Ganondorf, and it's up to me to find her!"_

Navi frowned, and her wings drooped at his words.

"Link," she interrupted. "Can we call Saria?"

_"What for?"_

"I need to tell her to let the Great Deku Tree know that I found the Hero of Time."

_"Oh, that's a good idea."_

Link pulled his ocarina out of his pocket, and he and Navi stepped out of the house. With the two of them gone, the room was now empty.

"I need to make a call myself," Shiek said to no one, and reached down to his belt. An infinite sack identical to Link's hung by its string on his belt. He undid the string, reached inside, and pulled out from it a brown tablet. It was decorated with tan markings, an orange handle, and the Sheikah tribe symbol in the center; a fully open eye with a single tear. Sheik put his finger to the tablet's screen, dragged it from right to left, and tapped the screen. Then he waited.

"Sheik?" The tablet suddenly spoke. "This is a surprise. I didn't expect you to take your Sheikah slate with you."

"Why not?"

"Well I-… you know what? It doesn't matter. I'm just glad you did."

"As am I."

"What did you need, Shiek?"

"Reporting in, Lady Impa. We had an incident here on Link's ranch."

"What kind of incident?"

"Ganondorf had one more trick up his sleeve before leaving us in the Temple of Time. While Link and his family were in the city, Link's double traveled to their ranch and overtook Link's uncle. When we arrived, he was under Ganondorf's mind control."

"Ugh, you've got to be kidding."

"No ma'am. Link and I handled the situation and destroyed the spell, but while he was here, Link's double played a rather cruel trick on Malon."

"What did he do?"

"He cut off one of the horse's heads and left it on her bed for us to find."

"Good lord! That's disgusting! Is she all right?"

"She was quite distraught, as the horse in question was rather important to her. But she has the love and support of her family, so I think she will recover in time."

"All things in time, I suppose. So you say you and Link handled the situation, yes?"

"Yes ma'am."

"How was your first time working together?"

"It was… let's just say it was a bit bumpy."

Impa's voice laughed on the other end.

"You never were a team player."

"I suppose not, ma'am."

"Which is why I gave it some thought, and I'm glad you went with Link. If I had been in a better state of mind, I probably would have sent you with him anyway."

"Then I'm glad I had the foresight to send myself for you."

There was silence on the other end.

"Are you still there, Lady Impa?"

"I am. I'm just thinking."

"What about, ma'am?"

"About this giant mess, for starters. A lot has happened since you left. I'm sending you a picture of the headline for today's special edition."

The front cover of a newspaper appeared on the slate's screen, and Shiek read the headline out loud.

"HERO OF TIME APPEARS IN HYRULE: After the disastrous events of yesterday's New Year celebrations, and the horrific and public assassination of His Royal Majesty the King, reliable accounts from within the remaining ranks of the Royal Knights have confirmed that the Master Sword is now in the hands of a young man from Ordona Province, who is believed to have fought a battle in the Temple of Time, against the long missing and wanted dead or alive King of the Gerudo, Lord Ganondorf Dragmire."

Impa's voice broke him off before he could read the rest of the article.

"Apparently, some of the knights who fought alongside us this morning decided it would be a good idea to go to the press with this, and now we have to include crowd control in our job description. The city's citizens are, to put it mildly, ecstatic."

"With all due respect, how else were you going to explain the damage done to the temple?"

"I suppose that's what we get for not being as proactive. There's no helping it now."

"It'll certainly make our journey interesting when news spreads."

"That's the understatement of the year."

Now it was Shiek's turn to laugh.

"Shiek?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I know this is asking a lot, but I want you to do your best with Link."

"I will, ma'am."

"Hold on, I'm not finished. When I say I want you to do your best with Link, I really mean to do your best  ** _with_** him. He's not me. He can't give you orders the way I can, because he doesn't have any experience with this. He'll need a teammate and a friend, someone he can trust to stand beside him. Not in front or behind. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Shiek sighed, then said, "Yes ma'am."

"The two of you will need to work together, side by side, if you want to be successful. I know you don't play well on teams, but I believe in you."

"…I think I do, too. And I believe in Link."

"That's… really good to hear. I'm… I'm proud of you, Shiek."

"Thank you, ma'am. That means a lot, coming from you."

"Is there anything else you needed?"

"There is one more thing, which I think you'll find interesting."

"How so?"

"Apparently Talon, Link's adoptive father, knew he was the Hero of Time ever since Link was a child."

"That's definitely interesting."

"It gets better. Talon knew about it, because he found out about Link's destiny directly from the source."

"Which source would that be?"

"The Spirit of the Ordona Spring."


	2. Ordon Village

The next morning was crisp and dewy. Everyone got up an hour before the sun rose to bid Link goodbye. Malon, Talon, and Ingo gathered at the ranch's main gate and watched while Link and Sheik prepared their respective horses. Sheik had purchased his from the ranch and wanted to give them double, but at their insistence he paid for the horse at a discount.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked. "You're already down a horse, no thanks to Rio."

"You'll need that money to take care of yourselves," Ingo replied. "It's a tough road where you're going."

Malon's voice shook as she held Link's hands.

"I'll miss you. We all will. Promise you'll be careful, please."

He squeezed her hands and nodded.

"Take this with you," Ingo said and presented a hand axe to Link. "You'll need this when you're sleeping under the stars on a cold night. It might be small, but it'll gather you kindling better than any other axe."

Link smiled as he took the axe.

"Wait a second," said Malon. "I'll be right back."

She raced back into the ranch. Several minutes later, she returned with four giant bottles of Lon Lon Milk in her arms.

"Maybe these will help, too. At least take them, so you'll have something to remember us by."

Link took the bottles and set them down, then held her tight in his arms.

_"I'd never forget you. Not in a million years. I promise."_

He followed Malon's hug by giving Talon and Ingo strong handshakes and hugs of their own.

"You take care of yourself, boy," said Ingo.

"I'm proud of you, Link," said Talon. "You'll do just fine."

Link put the milk bottles one by one into his sack, and hopped onto Epona.

"And please take care of Epona," Malon patted the mare's neck.

"We'll be in touch," said Sheik. "I'll remind him to write letters whenever we can."

"You will? Thank you! It would mean so much if you could."

"You won't be able to reply, since we'll be moving around."

"That's okay. We won't have much to write about. I have a feeling things will be boring without him."

_"Thank you so much, for everything."_

"Bye everybody!" Navi waved from underneath Link's cap. "It was nice meeting all of you!"

"Take good care of him, Navi."

"Of course I will! I'm the best guardian fairy that ever guarded."

"Let's go Link." Sheik took up his reins. "Ordon Village awaits. And soon, all of Hyrule will be waiting for its hero."

Epona reared up on her hind legs, whinnied, and set off at a gallop toward the Ordona Woods. Sheik's horse quickly followed after. Talon and Ingo waved and called 'goodbye' over and over, but Malon watched in silence as Link raced farther and farther away. Before her father or uncle could stop her, she darted down the road, stopped at the bottom of the hill and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"LINK! No matter what happens, promise you'll come back! PROMISE!"

From the distance, she saw Link turn and wave at her. Then, as he and Sheik entered the woods, he was gone.

"Bye, Link," Malon whispered. "Please stay safe."

* * *

As Link was beginning his journey, a male Rito was soaring northeast, high above the Ordona Woods. He flew on a thermal, stretching out his long wings, and looked down at the woods below. He wore a purple jacket over his brown and white feathers, and a pack around his shoulders. The western edge of the sky was dark blue, but getting lighter every minute.

"Ah, there you are."

A break in the woods appeared, so he swerved to the right in a half-circle and began his descent, spiraling downward toward the spotted village. When he was just above the trees, he flapped his wings hard, sending out gales beneath him, and drifted down until he was standing on the soft ground. The village was quiet, and no one was about.

"That's what I get for flying so quickly. Oh well, better get to it."

He tucked his wings away and walked up to the first house he saw; a mushroom-shaped cottage resting on top of a hill, with an open-door forge. The Rito approached the front door, cleared his throat and adjusted his jacket, then knocked. No sounds came from inside. After a few minutes, he knocked again.

Immediately after his second knock, the door cracked open. A small boy, with blonde hair cut into a bowl, peaked outside. He saw the giant bird person, gasped and ripped the door open wide.

"You're so big!"

"Good morning, my boy," the Rito laughed. "My name is Quill, and I've come with an urgent message from Hyrule City. Do you know where I can find a man named Rusl?"

"That's my dad!" The boy exclaimed. "I'll go get him!"

The boy left the Rito standing at the door as he raced into the house. While he waited for the boy to return, he let his eyes wander across the village.

"What a pretty little town. That's a lovely waterwheel they have."

"Here he is!"

Quill turned around and watched the boy come back, dragging his father by his much bigger hand.

"Not so hard, Colin! My goodness."

Rusl rubbed his eyes and prostrated himself before the Rito, who was a good foot taller than him.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"I apologize for the hour, my good man. Under normal circumstances, I'd have dropped this into your mailbox for your own convenience." As Quill spoke, he took his sack from his shoulder and dug through it. "But I was given instructions to deliver this letter to you immediately. It is meant for your eyes, and no one else's."

He found the indicated letter and presented it to Rusl. At the sight of the letter's seal, Rusl's brow furrowed. He took the envelope and eyed it suspiciously.

"From Impa? Did I forget something last week?"

He fished through his pockets, pulled out a yellow rupee, and presented it to Quill.

"There is no need, Sir Rusl. The postage is already paid."

"Then at least take a tip. It can't be easy flying here from the city so early in the morning."

"Now that I can agree to," Quill chuckled and took the rupee. "A Happy New Year to you, sir."

"And you as well."

His business finished, the Rito spread his wings and ran down the road, flapping as he went. He jumped, sailed upward over the trees and was gone.

"Whoa!" The boy Colin watched as Quill flew away. "I didn't know Rito were so big!"

Rusl put his arm around Colin and pulled him inside, closing the door behind them. He dropped the letter on a nearby coffee table and walked to one of the bookshelves. When he returned with a letter opener in hand, Colin was holding the letter in both hands, staring in awe at it.

"Let me have it, son."

He handed Rusl the letter, who sat on the sofa and tore it open with the knife. He leaned forward, pulled the parchment out of the envelope, and read the three short sentences to himself:

_Rusl,_

_I've met your friend, whom you speak of so fondly. He will pay you a visit within the next day or two. You can probably figure out why._

_Impa_

Rusl sank into the sofa.

"What's it say, Dad?"

"It says Link is coming to visit."

"Really? That's great!"

"I guess it is."

"Wait 'til I tell Beth!"

* * *

"It's true! A real Rito was here this morning, all the way from Hyrule City!"

"Yeah, right! You're making it up!"

It was late afternoon. Three children were walking in a line, making their way down the forest path, with Colin following shortly behind. The first in line was a boy named Talo, whose brown hair was pushed up in a yellow sweatband. He carried a stick in hand and hit it against the occasional bush as they walked past. The next was a girl, Beth, with a red ribbon tied into her cow-licked hair. She walked with one hand on her hip as they made their way to the spring. The last in line before Colin was Malo, and he was the shortest of the four. He shuffled his legs quickly to keep up with the other two.

"I never saw any Rito!" Talo shouted as he jumped and hit a low-hanging branch with his twig.

"He was here super early, before anybody was awake."

"Then why did you get to see him?" Beth sneered. "You sleep in later than the rest of us."

"He came to give my dad a letter."

"And just what did this letter say?" Malo turned his head toward Colin and gave him a forlorn glance.

"Dad told me it said Link was coming to visit."

"Why would a Rito fly all the way from Hyrule City, just to tell your dad that Link was visiting?"

"It doesn't, that's how! Colin's lying!"

"I am NOT!"

"You are, too!" Beth yelled. "If Link was really coming, he would have told us or come here himself. He wouldn't send someone all the way from Hyrule City, when it takes half as long to travel here from Lon Lon Ranch."

"Yeah! How do you explain that?"

"But I…"

"C'mon guys, let's just go."

"I'm not making it up! There was a Rito, I swear!"

Before the others could comment again, they came to the familiar fork in the road and turned.

Standing knee-deep in the water, and gazing into the sky through the circular break of the trees around the spring, was Ilia, now 16 years old. She'd aged beautifully during the last seven years. Her pale skin was clear, her slender figure had fleshed out delicately, and her green almond eyes were somehow even softer and warmer in her teens. Her short blonde hair grew into a curl that stopped at the nape of her neck.

Ilia's back was to the children when they came up the path. When she heard their footsteps approaching the spring, she turned and waded toward them.

"Hi guys. The water's nice today. Want to come in?"

"Ilia," Talo snickered. "Colin thinks he saw a Rito."

"A Rito?"

"Yeah, he says it came by this morning, but we don't believe him."

"I don't care if you believe me! I saw what I saw!"

"I believe you, Colin," Ilia said as she wrung the water out of her pant leg.

"What?!" Beth cried. "But why?"

"Colin's never lied before. If it were me and I saw a Rito, I'd want to tell everybody I knew, too."

Ilia sat in the dirt next to Colin.

"Did you see what the Rito did while he was here?"

"He came to our house and asked me where he could find my dad. So I woke him up, and the Rito gave him a letter."

"Do you know what it said?"

"Dad told me it said Link was coming to the village."

Ilia put a finger to her chin and thought out loud, "Why would a Rito come to our village just to tell Rusl that Link is coming?"

"That's why we didn't believe him," Talo interrupted. "Doesn't that seem weird?"

"It's a little odd, but that means Rusl saw the Rito, too. Why don't you ask him about it when he's not busy?"

"Yeah! My dad can tell you all about it!"

"And besides. If it's true, then Link will be here soon, any day now. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Ilia gave Beth a furtive smile as she spoke, to which Beth couldn't help blushing.

"I guess that does sound good."

"What about you two?" She said to the brothers. "It's been a while since Link came to visit. Don't you want to see him?"

"Yeah!" Talo exclaimed. "He can play with us like last time!"

"It will be nice to see him," Malo murmured, his voice taking a bitter tone. "Considering he missed the New Year with us."

"Exactly. He owes us big time for not coming out this year. How about you, Colin?"

Colin smiled.

"I do miss Link."

"I do, too. It's been too long. Now let's go back to the village. Your parents won't be happy if they found out you came here."

"Ilia," Beth started as she took hold of Ilia's arm. "Your dad doesn't like it when you go into the forest either. Why do you come out here so much?"

"I have to make sure the spring is okay. Those daisies get worse and worse every day."

Ilia peered into the woods beyond the path and frowned. Black-stemmed daisies, with square petals and red centers, had conquered and crowded the forest floor. They grew in massive clumps at the base of every tree, giving off a glow that lit up the forest in a blood-red light.

"It's too bad," Beth sighed. "They're kind of pretty."

"Don't say that!" Talo blurted. "They're bad flowers that hurt the trees!"

"We need to do something about them soon," Ilia said, clutching Beth's shoulder. "If we don't, we may have to leave the village."

The children protested immediately.

"Leave the village?!"

"We can't leave!"

"It's our home!"

"We're not going anywhere yet," she soothed. "I'm sure we'll figure something out before it gets to that."

"Stupid flowers!" Talo marched over to a clump and squashed one of the daisies under his foot.

"No!"

Ilia grabbed him away, but she stopped him too late. A familiar splintering and cracking rang out.

"RUN!"

She and the kids dashed out of the way as a tree came tumbling down. It landed with a crash in front of them, echoing through the forest.

"Are you guys okay?"

Though they were shaken, all four kids nodded and gave an obligatory 'uh-huh'.

"Talo, you idiot!" Beth yelled. "You know what happens when you touch them! You're such a kid!"

"Calm down," Ilia said. "The important thing is that none of us are hurt."

"But what do we do now?" Colin asked, pointing at the tree. "It fell on the path."

The tree, as wide as Ilia was tall, had fallen across and now blocked the forest path, separating them from the village.

"We can't go around, or we'll risk stepping on more flowers. We'll have to climb over."

"But it's so big!" Talo cried, spreading his arms. "We can't climb over that! We're too small!"

"I'll help you up. Just give me a second."

Ilia reached for one of the tree's branches and pulled herself up. Once she was sitting securely on the massive trunk, she extended her hand down toward the children.

"Ladies first."

Beth took her hand, and Ilia pulled her up and over the tree, then gently placed her down on the other side.

"Talo, can you pick up your brother up so I can reach him?"

Talo hoisted Malo up with all his strength, until he was close enough for Ilia. She took him and lowered him down to Beth's waiting arms on the other side.

"Okay, who's next?"

"I am!" Talo declared as he shoved Colin aside.

"Don't be mean," she said, but reached down for his arms and pulled him up. Another splintering crack erupted. Ilia looked up and saw another tree next to theirs, breaking at its base. Its shadow loomed over Colin as it began to fall.

"COLIN!"

With no time to lift him out of the way, Ilia jumped off her tree, shielded Colin with her body, and squeezed her eyes shut. Talo and Beth screamed as they watched the tree fall onto her.

"ILIA!"

Darkness spread, but there was no crash. Ilia heard Talo's voice cry out from the other side of the already fallen tree.

"Hey! The tree's floating!"

She opened her eyes and looked at the supposedly floating tree. A young man with blond hair stood on one knee, with his back to Ilia and Colin as he held up the tree. He wore a green tunic, with gold chain-link armor underneath, and leather gloves and boots. Frightened, Ilia struggled to speak.

"Th-thank you, sir. I- I mean… We would be dead if not for you."

The boy turned his head around to look at her.

"L…Link?!"

"Link?" Beth's voice shouted. "Where?! I wanna see!"

Link smiled and pushed himself up onto both feet, lifting the tree. He carried it to the side of the path and laid it down out of the way. Then he walked over to Ilia and held his hand out to her.

"How did you-… When did you-?!"

She took his hand, and he helped her to her feet. He went to the first tree and lifted it up as well. At the sight of the tree rising easily in front of them, Beth and Talo cheered.

"You saved Ilia!" Talo cried. "You're a hero!"

"When did you get so strong?" Beth sighed dreamily, starry-eyed.

Even Malo chimed in, giving a curt, "Impressive."

Colin watched in wonder as Link moved the second tree off the forest path.

"You really are amazing…"

Epona strode over to Link and rested her head on his shoulder.

_"What do you think, Epona? Can you be nice and give him a ride?"_

She nickered softly, so Link lifted Colin and set him on her saddle.

"Hey!" Talo shouted. "I want to ride, too!"

Link lifted Talo onto his shoulders, took Beth's hand, and they began walking toward the village, with Epona trotting beside him. Ilia, frozen in place, watched them walk away.

"What… what just happened?"

"Forgive my friend," a voice said behind her.

Ilia looked around, and saw a figure dressed head to toe in dark, fitted clothing. Wrapped strips of linen covered his arms and legs where the clothing stopped, and a mask concealed his nose and mouth. The only visible parts of his body were the tips of his fingers, his red eyes, and the blond braid that grew out from his hood. He approached Ilia from behind as he lead his horse.

"Subtlety is not one of his strong suits."

"You can say that again," Malo chirruped. "He didn't even ask me if I wanted a ride."

"Perhaps you'll settle for my horse?"

Malo looked him and his horse up and down, scrutinizing both intensely. After a moment he groaned, "I suppose you'll do," and held up his arms.

"You're awfully precocious for one so young," the man replied as he put Malo on his horse. "I'll have to watch myself around you."

"We'll see about that," Malo said as he made himself comfortable on the saddle.

"You live in this village, do you not?" The cloaked man asked Ilia, who nodded without a word.

"Then let's be off."

Ilia moved in silence behind him as they followed Link into the village. When she finally found the courage to speak, she asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Sheik. I am a member of the Sheikah tribe. I was an apprentice to Lady Impa in Hyrule City, until I met Link and chose to accompany him on his journey."

"Journey? What journey?"

"We will explain everything once we meet with Rusl."

"You know Rusl?"

"He and I are acquainted, yes."

Before Ilia could speak again, they heard quick footsteps, and saw several adults from the village running toward them.

"Mom!" Talo cried. "What're you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?!" Talo and Malo's mother, Pergie, yelled angrily as she yanked Talo off Link's shoulders. "I'll tell you what we're doing here! We heard trees crashing in the forest and came running when we realized none of you were in the village!"

"If we've told you once, we've told you a thousand times!" Beth's mother, Sera, added as she grabbed her by the arm. "You are NOT to go into the woods alone! It is too dangerous!"

"But Mom-"

Ilia stepped forward before Beth could protest.

"Please don't blame them," she pleaded. "They only went into the forest because-"

"Because you broke the rules, AGAIN!" Mayor Bo interrupted. "Ilia, how many times must we go through this?!"

"I have to make sure the spring is safe from the flowers, or they'll destroy the forest!"

"And if you get crushed under a tree, or one of the kids get crushed because they went to see you, what would we do then?!"

"I can't sit around and do nothing while the woods are in danger!"

"And I won't sit by while my daughter knowingly puts herself in danger! You are forbidden from going into the forest again, and that's my final word!"

"Why can't you listen to me?! If anyone's going to find a way to destroy those flowers, it'll be me!"

Mayor Bo's face grew redder and redder the longer their yelling match continued.

"I AM YOUR FATHER AND YOU WILL DO AS I SAY OR SO HELP ME I'LL-"

A hand came to rest on Bo's shoulder, stopping him mid-roar.

"Now Bo," Rusl said calmly. "This is no way to behave in front of guests."

At his statement, Mayor Bo finally took notice of Link and Sheik's presence, and took a deep breath.

"Ilia, we will discuss this later."

She crossed her arms and turned so she didn't face the others. Link noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Link," Bo grumbled. "You're always welcome in our village, but we weren't exactly expecting you. I hope you'll forgive that little… exchange."

"Consider it forgotten," Sheik answered.

"And just who might you be?"

"He's an acquaintance of mine," Rusl explained, looking directly at Link as he spoke. "I received notice this morning that they'd be coming to the village. Apparently, someone caused a bit of a ruckus in Hyrule City."

Link scratched the back of his neck as his face turned bright red.

"So you've heard about it, then?" Sheik asked.

"I haven't heard a thing. But the looks on your faces speak volumes."

"Rusl," Bo blurted. "What nonsense are you talking about this time?"

"Let's hope these two can tell us. But first, let's get these kids home, shall we? Colin, come with me."

At his name, Colin tried to climb down from Epona, but his legs dangled over the ground as he hung from her saddle. Link went to help Colin, and as he did he caught a glimpse of the glow from the daisies, and scowled.

_"I hate those things."_

He led Epona the rest of the way as the group traveled together to the village. When they came to the entrance, Mayor Bo asked, "How long do you plan on staying?"

"We will stay until we've finished our business," Sheik answered.

"And how long will that business take?"

"A few days, at best. It will depend on Link's abilities."

"In that case, you may stay in the tree house here by the gate," he said gratingly. "I hope you find your visit pleasant."

"Thank you, sir."

"Yes, yes."

Link and Sheik unsaddled their horses while the adults carted their children home.

"Ilia, we're going home."

"But Dad-"

"We're going home. Now."

"Dad, I want to talk to Link."

"Grrrrr! Fine! Do what you want!"

Before anyone could get in a word, Mayor Bo stormed off.

"That man's temper," Rusl grumbled.

A soft hiccup bubbled out of Ilia's throat as she tried to hold back tears. Link put a hand on her shoulder. She wiped her nose and said, "I'm fine, really."

"Link," Rusl asked, trying to change the subject. "Why don't you take those horses of yours over to the ranch?"

"I'll go with him," Ilia mumbled. She slid her hand into Link's, and took Epona's reins from him. Link twitched at her touch, but Sheik handed him the reins of his own horse before he could think too much of it.

"Meet us at my place when you're done."

"Dad," asked Colin. "Am I in trouble?"

"Yes," Rusl said calmly. "But we'll talk about that later. We have very business to take care of right now."

They split at the fork in the road; Sheik and Rusl with Colin in tow headed up the hill to the cottage on the left, while Link and Ilia took the horses over the bridge to the right.

"Geez!"

Navi popped out from under Link's hat and leaned forward on his hair.

"I thought I'd never get to come out!"

_"Navi, you've got the sense of timing of a tree stump."_

"Well, I wasn't gonna come out with all those kids surrounding us. They get grabby, especially where fairies are involved." She began poking his forehead. "And for your information, I've known several tree stumps who all had great senses of timing, so haha on you."

_"Ow! Cut it out!"_

He dropped the reins to wave her away from his face, but stopped when he noticed that Ilia's hands were clasped over her mouth.

"Link!" She cried. "Where on earth did you find a fairy?"

"Oh right," Navi realized. "I forgot she was still here."

_"That's not very nice."_

"Excuse me! I'm not in the mood to be nice, considering I just spent the last few hours bouncing up and down in your hat while you were riding horseback!"

"Wait, what's going on?" asked Ilia. "Miss fairy, who are you talking to?"

"I'm talking to bricks for brains over here," Navi said while pointing a thumb at Link.

_"Hey!"_

"To Link? But how?"

"I can hear his thoughts, so we can talk even though he doesn't have a voice."

"That's amazing!"

"And my name's not 'Miss Fairy'. It's Navi."

"I'm Ilia, in case no one said it before."

"Link says he's never seen you argue with your dad like that before, and wants to make sure you're okay."

Ilia cast a helpless glance at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Link. We shouldn't have done that in front of you. I didn't want you to know."

_"About what?"_

"About how bad things have gotten between my dad and I."

She took Epona's reins again, and they began walking up the hill to the ranch.

"I really hate to say it, but we've been arguing almost every night."

_"Every night? That doesn't sound like you at all."_

"I know. I can't stand the fighting, but the idea of staying away from the spring is… well, you saw for yourself just how bad those flowers have gotten over the years. If they infest the spring, there won't be anything left to protect the village, and we'll have to leave. I love our village, and I couldn't stand it if we had to find a new home.

"We fight because I go to check on the spring every day, even though it's dangerous. I know dad is just worried about me, but I can't stay away. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just me, but sometimes the other kids follow me into the woods since they like being around me. That makes the other parents mad at my dad, and my dad even more mad at me."

_"Haven't you tried getting rid of the flowers?"_

"Of course, but nothing's worked. We've sprayed them, rooted them, mulched them, transplanted them―we even tried cultivating them, to see if we could find some use for them. But no matter what we do to get rid of the flowers, they suck the life from the trees and make them fall, and then the flowers just grow back twice as fast.

"The forest is dying all around us and there's nothing we can do about it. Even the spring isn't as big as it used to be; it's shallower, and the waterfall is barely more than a trickle over a few rocks. If we don't find a way to get rid of those Twilight Daisies soon, we won't have a forest for much longer."

_"I'm so sorry, Ilia. I wish there was something I could do to help."_

"I know you would," Ilia sighed. "You've always been good to this village, Link. Rusl told the kids for our camp-out this year all about how you stopped the thieves from taking all the ranches' milk."

_"Again? Seriously?"_

"He loves telling the story, and they love hearing it, as do most of the villagers. You risked everything to help us that year. My dad never said so, since he felt so bad about how you got hurt, but he really appreciated what you did for the village. I do, too."

"Link," asked Navi. "What's she talking about?"

_"When I was little, some thieves came in the middle of the night and tried to make off with all the milk from the village and nearby ranches."_

"And you stopped them all by yourself? When you were just a kid? You were even braver then than you are now."

 _"But that's the thing_ ;  _I didn't stop them. They got the best of me, and nearly killed me."_

"Then how did you survive?"

_"All this time, I thought it was the Hero of Time who saved my life. But since it turns out that I'm the Hero, and I obviously didn't save myself, I don't really know what happened, or who rescued me."_

"Navi," Ilia asked, "Can I hug you?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because it's been so long since Link and I had a real conversation. I had no idea how much I missed talking to him, and having him talk back, even if it's through someone else."

"Um, sure I guess."

Navi embraced her awkwardly, but Ilia's warm touch melted the awkwardness.

"Thank you, Navi. Thank you so much."

"…You're welcome."

"And thank you for listening, Link."

"WHOOOOOOOAAA! A GOAT GOT LOOSE!"

Link and Ilia whipped their heads toward the ranch path, and saw a goat charging down the hill toward them.

"IT'S HEADIN' FOR TOWN! SOMEBODY STOP IT!"

Link ran ahead and braced himself. The goat came tearing toward him, bleating in anger the whole way, but he grabbed it by the horns, yanked it up over his head, and threw it onto its side.

"Nice job. Good thing Dad didn't see that, or he would've docked Fado's wages."

The goat picked itself up and walked with its head low behind them as they made their way up the hill. Nineteen other goats were grazing in the pasture as they reached the ranch. The stray goat returned to its brothers while Ilia and Link removed the bridles and reins from the horses and turned them into the pasture. Fado came running toward them.

"Hey! Link! I didn't know you were here! Were you the one who stopped the goat?"

He nodded.

"That's great! Thanks for catchin' it so fast. I gotta get back to work, but come visit while you're here, okay? I'll catch you later, and you too Ilia."

"Good luck, Fado!" She called after him as he ran into the pasture. "Poor guy."

They turned around and walked down the hill to the village.

"I didn't recognize you, you know."

_"What do you mean?"_

"When you stopped the tree from falling on Colin and I. You look so different now. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get those clothes?"

 _"I, uh_ …  _got them while I was in Hyrule City."_

"I hope they didn't cost too much."

_"Not a single rupee."_

"That's fortunate, but if you didn't buy them, how did you get them? And where did you find this beautiful sword?"

Ilia's hand went up to the Master Sword on Link's back. The moment her fingertips touched the sword's hilt, she yelped and yanked her hand away.

"OUCH!"

_"What's wrong?!"_

"Your sword! It shocked me!"

_"It shocked you?"_

"Yeah, it felt like when you rub your feet on carpet, then touch a door handle. Except it hurt a lot worse."

_"Let me see."_

He took her shocked hand and examined it, but there were no burns or marks.

"It still tingles a bit," she said, "but I think I'm okay. I've never heard of a sword electrocuting someone before."

 _"Master,"_ Fi's voice echoed.  _"Please refrain from allowing anyone to touch the Master Sword. You are its only true holder, and no one else may lay a hand on it. Those who do will experience the same pain this girl did."_

_"Would've been nice to know that a little sooner."_

"Know what sooner?" Ilia asked.

"Link says no one gets to touch the sword," Navi reiterated. "Except for him. Apparently it's special or something."

"Is that why it shocked me? That's the strangest sword I've ever laid eyes on. What kind of sword is it?"

_"It's the Master Sword."_

"The Master Sword? That sounds familiar, but why on earth do you have it?"

Ilia stopped walking.

"And since when have you been strong enough to lift falling trees? And that person who was with you; he told me his name is Sheik, and that you were going on a journey. Link, what is going on?"

Link and Navi looked at each other nervously.

"Should we tell her?"

"Tell me what? You know I don't like secrets."

Link took two giant steps toward Ilia and took her hands in his.

_"I'm leaving, Ilia."_

"Leaving? But where are you going? Do you know when you'll come home?"

_"I have no idea, and from what I know, I'll be traveling through all of Hyrule."_

"All…all of Hyrule?! Why?!"

_"When I was in Hyrule City, Princess Zelda was kidnapped."_

"That's terrible! Does anyone know who did it?"

_"An evil man named Ganondorf took her, and I have to find him and stop him so I can save her."_

"But why? It's not your job to rescue the Princess."

_"Yes it is."_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

_"Ilia, do you remember the last day I was able to talk?"_

"Like it was yesterday."

_"Do you remember how we were lying under the stars, and we talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up?"_

"Of course I do. I still remember how you heard Rusl's story about the Hero of Time, and how you wanted to be just like the Hero when… you…"

Ilia's eyes widened. She took her hands from Link's and covered her face.

"Oh, don't tell me. Link, please don't say what I think you're going to say."

He shrugged.

"Good lord," she sighed. "The universe is playing tricks on us."

She exhaled and smiled awkwardly.

"Well, at least you got your wish, right?"

_"That's one way of looking at it."_

"Wow, I- I don't even know what to say. To think all those legends Rusl told us about were true… Is that how you got so strong, too?"

_"That's because of these gloves I've wearing."_

He took one of the golden gauntlets off and gave it to Ilia. She held the glove carefully as she traced her fingers over the gold plating covering the back.

"They're kind of pretty. May I try it on?"

_"Sure. Just be careful."_

She pulled the gauntlet over her hand, but there was empty space in the fingers and palm of the glove.

"I guess it's too big for me. Oh well, here goes."

_"Here goes what?"_

Ilia suddenly wrapped her arms around Link's chest, and started grunting as she pulled on him.

"Nnnnngh!"

_"Ilia? What-?"_

She went behind him and pushed on his shoulders, leaning against him as hard as she could.

"Herrrrrrrrgg!"

_"Ilia, what in the world are you doing?"_

"I'm trying," she grunted, "to pick you up and carry you, like you did with that tree, but it's not working."

"Maybe you need both gauntlets for it to work," Navi suggested.

Link took off the other glove before Ilia could ask, so she put it on and tried again, but had the same results.

_"That's weird. Why don't they work?"_

"Maybe it's like with your sword?" Navi guessed. "Maybe they won't work for anyone else except you."

"Oh well," Ilia said as she took the gauntlets off and returned them. "Thanks for letting me try. Since I can't use them on you, can you use them on me?"

_"What do you mean?"_

"I want you to throw me up and down in the air, like our parents used to do when we were kids."

_"Really?"_

"Yeah, it'll be fun! Please?"

Link smiled as he put the gauntlets back on, then took her in his arms and tossed her up. She went a foot in the air above his head.

"Come on, higher!"

He threw her a second time, and she went up about three feet.

"Higher, Link! Higher!"

Over and over Link threw Ilia into the air; five feet, ten feet, then twenty feet up, until she was flying over the tree line. She stretched her arms out and laughed every time she flew up. By the time Link sent her flying the twentieth time, she was laughing so hard tears poured from her eyes.

"Again! Do it again!"

Link, grinning from ear to ear, stooped down and gave a hearty toss. This time, she was sent sailing over a hundred feet up, and wobbled in the air as she came down.

_"Oh crap! Too high!"_

When he realized she wasn't coming straight back down to him, Link ran toward her with his arms out, trying to follow her descent. She fell into his arms, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

_"Ilia! Are you okay?"_

"That was amazing! I saw everything from up there! I bet if you threw me even higher, I'd be able to see Lon Lon Ranch!"

_"No way! That was too scary! I didn't know if I would catch you that time!"_

Ilia laughed and flopped onto her back. Link rolled over next to her.

"Hey, look," she said, taking his hand in hers. "That cloud looks kind of like a turtle."

_"Oh yeah, it kinda does."_

"And that one looks like a whale."

_"Mmm, maybe a little."_

"And that one looks like a heart."

_"No it doesn't. That looks nothing like a-_ _"_

He felt her squeeze his hand, so Link turned onto his side. Ilia was smiling at him.

 _"Ilia_ …"

"Well well, so that's what's taking you lovebirds so long."

Both their heads shot up and saw Rusl and Sheik standing over them. Ilia jumped to her feet and brushed the dirt off her legs.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted. "We were just talking and got distracted. We didn't mean to forget about you."

Rusl laughed, "That's all right, but I will have to steal Link from you in a moment."

"Okay," she said quietly, blushing. "I think I'll go home and change. I'm soaked from the spring, and now I'm covered in dirt."

"No," said Sheik. "You're coming with me."

"Me? Why?"

"I want to head into the woods and get a better look at those flowers, and I need someone familiar with the forest to go with me."

"Are _…_ are you sure you want me with you?" Ilia asked nervously. "I don't know how much help I would be."

"Rusl tells me you know the forest better than anyone else in the village."

"I don't know," she whispered. "If Dad finds out I went into the woods again, right after he yelled at me…"

"Don't worry about your father, sweety," Rusl smiled. "I'll talk to him for you. And besides," he knelt down next to Ilia's ear. "Sheik may look intimidating, but I promise he's a hundred percent safe. I trust him with my life."

At his assurance, Ilia relaxed and smiled.

"Okay. If you trust him, then I will too."

"While you two are doing that," Rusl said as he put his hand on Link's shoulder, "I'll work on training Link."

_"Training?"_

"If you're heading out to save the world, you'll need help using that sword. I can show you a thing or two."

"That's putting it mildly," Navi chirped.

_"Gee, thanks."_

She sang under her breath as Sheik and Ilia walked away.

"Link and Ilia sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-"

_"Navi!"_

"All right, I'll stop. Geez."

_"What is with you today?"_

"Nothing," she pouted. "I'm fine."

She jumped out from under his cap and put her hands on her hips.

"In fact, I feel so 'fine,' that I don't feel like talking for you today. I'm leaving."

_"What?!"_

"I'm going with Sheik, and we'll see how you get by without me. Stupid head."

And with that, she darted down the road.

 _"_ … _What the heck did I do?"  
_

Link looked over at Rusl pleadingly, but he only responded by gently slapping his shoulder.

"Before we start, would you mind if I had a look at your sword?"

_"But I- I don't_ _-_ _but- ugh_ _…"_

He gave up, unsheathed the Master Sword and placed it flat side on both of his open palms.

"This is beautiful…" Rusl breathed, leaning forward to get a closer look. "Such workmanship! I can only dream of making something this perfect. I'd ask to hold it, but I know better."

Rusl stood upright and cleared his throat.

"Why don't we get to work? I doubt you'd have that Ordon Sword I made for you, so I'll fetch a few-"

Link touched Rusl's arm mid-sentence. He re-sheathed the Master Sword and pulled it out again, this time in the form of the Ordon Sword. Rusl's eyes popped when he watched the sword change shape in front of him.

"Oh my lord! This is- Link, how is this even possible?! I've read countless texts and books about the Master Sword, but I've never seen or read any passage claiming it can change shape! How in the world did you-"

He stopped when he noticed the puzzled look on Link's face.

"Ah, forgive me Link. I don't mean to go on about it, but as I'm a blacksmith by trade, you have no idea what an honor it is to see this sword for myself. But…" Rusl took a deep breath. "What is most important is for you to learn how to use it, and that is what I need to do right now. I'll get a sword from my workshop, then we can begin."

* * *

Navi flew up the dirt path and perched herself on Sheik's shoulder.

"Hello Navi. Is something wrong?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"All right, then I won't bother you."

Their short-lived conversation ended and the three went through the quiet woods until they came to a virulent patch of flowers. Sheik stepped off the path and knelt into the patch.

"Please be careful," Ilia whispered.

He stared at the flowers, never blinking for a second. His hand went out for one and grabbed its stem.

"No! Don't!"

Sheik picked the flower before Ilia could stop him, and she braced herself. But nothing happened.

"Why didn't any of the trees fall?" she thought to herself.

"You call these Twilight Daisies?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Do you remember when these first appeared?"

"About seven years ago, almost to the day."

"That's a long time to let these get out of hand."

"We've tried getting rid of them, but-"

"It's all right. I didn't mean it like that. Besides…"

Sheik went silent, staring at the flower in his hand. Slowly, the flower began to wilt before their eyes. Its color faded as it shriveled up in his fingers and crumbled into dust.

"How did you…?"

"It's impossible for your village to destroy this infestation."

"There's no hope then? We'll have to leave after all…"

"Not so fast," Sheik said as he stood upright. "I said it's impossible for your village. That is not the case for Link and I. It'll be difficult, but we'll find a way."

"How will you do it?"

"I'm not sure. These aren't natural flowers."

Sheik plucked another flower and stared it down, and it too wilted into nothingness. He mumbled something under his breath.

"I'm sorry?" Ilia asked, "I didn't quite catch that."

Instead of repeating himself, Sheik moved to a nearby tree, avoiding the flowers under his steps. He put his hand on the trunk and closed his eyes. Ilia watched as he stood as still as the tree he was leaning on. After what felt like an eternity, Sheik finally opened his eyes.

"Whatever we do, we'd better do it soon. I'd give it a few weeks until every tree is rotted from the inside out."

Ilia's heart broke at his words, and her chest slumped.

"The only thing keeping this forest alive is a withering source of magic, and it grows weaker every minute."

"What source is that?"

"Ilia, will you take me to the spring?"

"Of course."

She hastened up the road, so Sheik followed at her heel as she led the way down the fork to the derelict spring. The rock waterfall had all but dried up; only a trickle of water dripped into the shallow pool, dyed a sickly green.

"This is what's left of it," Ilia said quietly. "I wish you could've seen it in its heyday."

Sheik walked past her and stepped into the water, wading through until he came to the center, and stood motionless.

"I know you're there," he said. "Show yourself, if you can."

Ilia looked around in all directions, but the only sounds were of the trickling waterfall and a distant bird chirping. Sheik looked up into the break of the trees at the sun shining down on the spring.

"I don't know if that means they can't," he said, "Or they won't."

"Won't what?"

"Show themselves."

"Is someone here with us?"

"Not someone. Something."

Ilia glanced at the far end of the spring, and gasped.

"Look!"

Sheik turned to where she pointed. Lying on its side beneath the dribbling waterfall was a golden wolfos. The light from its body flickered dimly. The animal's chest heaved up and down as it struggled to breath.

"Its hurt!" Ilia ran toward it, but Sheik grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't approach so carelessly. That's no ordinary wolfos."

"Then what is it?"

"That's the Spirit of the Spring."

"All the more reason to help it!"

She wrestled her arm free of Sheik's grasp and ran to the wolfos, kneeling down next to it.

"It's okay," she said, petting the wolfos. "We want to help."

The wolfos turned its head to look up at Ilia. Though its mouth didn't move, a weak female voice rose from its throat.

_"…Please…"_

Sheik knelt down beside Ilia.

"Great Spirit. This forest is suffering, and you are suffering. Tell us what we must do to end this pain, and make you whole again."

" _…Hero_ _…Link_ _…"_

"Yes, the Hero of Time is with us. He will help you. We will do as you command. You need only ask."

The wolfos turned its burning red eyes to Sheik, and spoke wearily.

_"Find_ _… find the sage_ _… the Sage of Light_ __… and play my song_ _ ___…"_ _ _

The wolfos laid its head down, and went back to struggling for breath.

"What do you mean?" Ilia pleaded. "Who's the Sage of Light? Where do we find them? Please, we need more information."

"Leave it be," Sheik said as he stood upright. "We must go."

"But we can't just leave her here! She's dying!"

"The only way to help the spirit is to find the sage. It needs to rest, and we have work to do."

Ilia gave a last tearful look at the exhausted wolfos before reluctantly standing up.

"Don't worry! We'll find the Sage of Light! We'll search high and low, and we'll bring them here! I promise!"

"Luckily, it won't come to that," Sheik replied as they waded back across the spring.

"What do you mean?"

"The Sage of Light will be someone close by, someone who lives near the spring."

"That's good," Ilia sighed. "There are only a few people living in the village, but how do we find out which one of us is the sage?"

"My hope is to bring the people of the village to the spring. Then, when Link and I play the spirit's song, the Sage of Light will awaken and reveal themselves."

"Do you know what the spirit's song is?"

"I do."

Sheik stopped in the road.

"Ilia, I didn't bring you with me just to be my guide. I need to ask you some things."

"Oh, um… All right."

"I know it's a bit personal, but it's for Link's sake so I hope you'll bear with me. Rusl told me you were with Link the day he lost his voice."

"I was."

"If you could, I'd like you to tell me the events of that day."

"To tell you the truth," she said, "I don't remember a lot of what happened that day."

"Try to, if you can."

Sheik sat cross-legged on the dirt path, so Ilia sat down in front of him.

"It's very important that you remember what happened that day."

"Well, Rusl told you a tree branch pierced his throat, right?"

"He did."

"And the doctor who operated on Link told us he removed Link's larynx. I don't remember the reason why b-"

"I already know all this, Ilia. I want to know what  _your_ side of the story is."

"Why do you want to know about this so much?"

"How familiar are you with anatomy?"

"I, um…" She scratched her head before answering. "I guess I don't really know much beyond 'heads, shoulders, knees and toes.'"

"Do you know what a larynx is?"

"The doctor told us it's the part of the throat that makes it so people can talk."

"That is correct, but only half so."

"What do you mean?"

"The larynx is responsible for forming the vocal cords, yes, but it plays another vital function in the tracheal system. Aside from making phonation possible, the larynx is supposed to form a protective barrier in the pharynx, so that foreign objects can't enter the trachea."

"I'm sorry, Sheik," Ilia scratched her head again. "But I don't follow."

"Put simply, if someone didn't have their larynx, not only would they not be able to talk, but they'd breath their food into their lungs and eat their air into their stomach."

"Well that doesn't sound very good."

"I should think not, since doing so results in death."

Ilia froze.

"Wait a minute. What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is that either Link is the medical miracle of the century, and has somehow found a way to live without such a vital organ, or―and this is the more likely case―the doctor lied to you, and Link still has his larynx."

"But, why would the doctor lie to us?"

"He probably knew you'd look to him for answers when Link went silent, and said the first thing he could think of, hoping no one would be able to correct him."

"If Link still has his larynx, why can't he talk anymore?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out, and it's why I'm talking with you. You were there the day the tree fell on Link, so you have an eyewitness account to what happened. Even the smallest detail could be important. Why don't you start by telling me the events of the day leading up to it?"

* * *

One of the prettier cottages in the village is attached to the windmill that churns the water on the bank of the river. The door of this cottage cracked open, and Beth poked her head out. She tiptoed out and slowly closed the door behind her, then sprinted up the road toward the north end of the village. She stopped at the bottom of the hill, and saw Link whacking at a straw-filled dummy with his sword. Rusl stood to the side giving him directions, and Colin watched while he sat beside his father on a tree stump.

"You think you got it? Now try a vertical slice."

Beth ran up the hill around the side―to avoid the training area―and up to Colin.

"Move over," she demanded. "I wanna watch."

Colin scooted over on the giant stump, and she smoothed the cord of her belt as she sat daintily beside him.

"I thought your mom was mad," he whispered.

"She is," Beth whispered back, "But I managed to escape. What's it to you?"

"I just hope you don't get in more trouble."

"I just wanna see Link. I don't care if I get in trouble for that. What're they doing?"

"Dad's showing Link how to use his new sword."

"Didn't he make that sword for him?"

"Yeah."

"Keep your stance wide," said Rusl. "Balance is the key, Link. Don't ever forget that."

Link bent his knees and lowered his body.

"Now try a horizontal slice."

Link swung the sword from the left to the right, striking the dummy across the stomach.

"You're a bit heavy-handed there. Your grip should be firm, but light."

Link tried the slice again, striking this time from right to left, but the sword flew out of his hand and clattered to the ground.

"Don't worry," Rusl smiled. "It's okay to make mistakes. That's why we're practicing."

_"For just the basics, this is intense."_

Link went to fetch the sword, and came back to the dummy.

"Normally I'd have you stick with the dummy for a few sessions, but since you won't be here that long we'll have to accelerate things." Rusl drew a sword from the scabbard at his belt. "I just wish Talon would've let me start training you sooner."

_"So do I."_

"But time can't be helped," Rusl said as he approached Link. "So we'll just make up for it. Take your stance."

Link placed his left foot and arm forward. Rusl clacked the blade of his sword against Link's.

"We're going to do a simple exercise. All you have to do is keep your sword against mine, and walk."

Rusl took a big step forward on his right foot, forcing Link to take a step back.

"It's simple in theory, though not so much in practice. When I step forward with my right foot, you step back with your left. Vice versa when I step with my left, and for when I'm the one stepping back. While we're doing this, I want you to pay close attention to maintaining your stance. Now let's give it a try."

This time, Rusl stepped back with his right foot, and Link followed forward.

"Keep those legs bent. It's harder than it sounds, isn't it?"

_"You're telling me."_

"The real trick is not to watch what my feet are doing, but to watch what  _I'm_ doing. Don't ever take your eyes off your opponent in battle, not even for a second."

The exercise was easy enough at first. Rusl followed a pattern of moving his right foot forward and back, alternating to his left foot, then returning to his right. But once Link was able to follow well enough, Rusl started changing the pattern. He'd take two steps forward, three steps back, one step, four steps, three steps, then he'd walk forward and force Link back, until he found himself moving backward down the hill, before going back again.

They started toward the hill a second time when a root embedded in the dirt caught Link's foot. He twisted in the air, landed on his side, and slid a foot down the hill. Beth leapt from the tree stump and rushed over to him.

"Link! Are you okay?"

Link rubbed his sore hip and nodded. Beth pointed a finger at Rusl.

"You should be more careful training him! He could've gotten hurt!"

Rusl chuckled at her outburst. "Link is good and strong, Beth. You don't have to worry. I promise to take good care of him."

"You better, or I'll make you regret it!"

"First Uli, then Malon, and now Beth. I've surrounded myself with such strong-willed women."

Rusl smiled warmly, then extended his hand to Link. "Shall we continue?"

Link took his hand and stood up. He brushed the dirt from his tunic, and the two resumed their sword-walk. Shortly after they began, Sheik came walking up the hill.

"Welcome back," Rusl said as he took his steps. "Learn anything?"

"A great deal. Ilia was very helpful."

"Where is she?"

"She's right here."

Sheik pointed a thumb behind him, but Rusl scratched his head.

"No she isn't. There's no one behind you."

Sheik whirled around, and saw no Ilia.

"She was there a minute ago. Where'd she go?"

"Did she perhaps return to the spring?" Rusl asked.

"We were just there. She has no reason to go back."

"Maybe she went back to her own house," Colin suggested shyly.

"She told me she wanted to come back here," Sheik replied.

"And besides," Beth pointed out. "I wouldn't want to be around her dad if I was her. He's still pretty mad."

"Is she at least in the village?"

"I don't know," Sheik admitted. "I thought she was behind me the whole time."

"Maybe she really did go back to the spring. We know how she is about that place."

"I hope not. The spring isn't the safest place to be right now. The spirit of the spring has grown weak, and the infestation in the woods is reeking with magic."

"All the more reason to check. If Ilia went back into the woods, we need to get her in the village ASAP."

_"I'll go look."_

Link dropped the Ordon Sword, which changed back into the Master Sword the moment it left his fingers, and ran down the hill toward the path.

"Link, wait! Don't go without your sword!"

Link didn't hear Shiek call after him. He was already halfway out of the village.

"Let's hope he won't need it," said Rusl.

"We can't just leave it on the ground like this. How do we move it?"

"I'll figure something out. Let me see if I can carry it into my workshop."

* * *

Link darted through the woods, stopping to search through the trees, then went on sprinting.

 _"I hope Ilia's okay. It's not like her to just disappear. If only I could call out to her_ …"

He ran up to a sapling and shook it. Then he snatched a rock from the dirt and threw it against a thick tree trunk.

_"Maybe if I make as much noise as possible, she'll hear me and and come toward the noise."_

A thought occurred to Link. His running slowed to a jog, a long stride, and he finally stopped.

 _"Wait_ …  _where's Navi? Why wasn't she with Shiek?"_

He looked around frantically through the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse of her bright blue body, but all he saw was the sickening glow of the Twilight Daisies.

 _"God, I hope she's okay. Maybe_ …  _maybe she's with Ilia. If they're lost, at least they're lost together."_

He took up his run again in the direction of the spring.

_"I can't call out to Ilia, but I can call for Navi. I just have to find her."_

He cupped his hands instinctively around his mouth, but dropped them when he remembered it would do no good.

_"Navi! Navi, where are you? Navi!"_

He stopped again at a break in the trees and aimed his thoughts into the woods beyond the path.

_"I'm sorry if I made you mad! I really am! I don't know what I did wrong, but if you just tell me what it is, I'll try to make it right! Please, just talk to me!"_

No answer came from the trees. No bird or animal cried. No insect skittered away from his feet. The woods were silent.

_"This doesn't feel right. I have to find Ilia and Navi, before something happens. I just hope Ilia's not crushed under a tree someplace."_

Link jumped off the path and ran into woods, darting past trees as he went. His head shook left and right again, looking for any sign of Ilia or Navi.

_"Navi! Navi, please be okay! If you can hear me, please say something! Navi! NAVI!"_

Link's foot gave way underneath him and he felt himself fall forward. He braced his arms out to land on his hands into the patch of flowers before him. But he did not land. His hands went straight through the flowers and into the dirt, followed by his arms and the rest of his body. He half-expected to belly flop onto the forest floor, but had no such jarring impact. Wind was whipping all around him. The forest had vanished, and he was free-falling through a dark, glittering golden sky, with no ground anywhere in sight.

 _"Where_ …  _where_ am _I?!"_

A pain jolted through his foot, making him wince. He reached for the afflicted foot and gritted his teeth.

_"That's weird. Did I hurt myself falling through the flowers?"_

The same pain then erupted from his hands.

_"Agh! My hands! It hurts!"_

The pain spread quickly up his arms and legs, into his torso. He felt every bone breaking and resetting. He gasped for breath, and hot tears sprang from his eyes as his body was crushed and molded by an unseen force. Through the pain and tears he glimpsed down at his foot, but it had disappeared, and in its place was a big hairy paw.

_"WHAT IS- WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?! AAAAAAAGH!"_

He didn't think anymore, and could only scream internally as his arms changed into fur-covered legs. His shoulders hunched in, forcing his arms forward and his elbows into his chest. His spine grew and his legs shrank. His nose and mouth popped out into a muzzle.

The last thing Link saw before he passed out was a black tower piercing the twilight of the sky.


	3. The Twilight Realm, Part 1

"Hey! Talo, open up in there!"

Beth pounded hard on the front door, while Colin stood waiting behind her.

"Cut it out!" A voice shouted from the other side. "You're gonna get us in more trouble!"

"Relax, I know your mom's not home."

The door opened, and Talo peeked outside.

"How'd you know? Even I didn't notice."

"We passed her on our way here, smarty pants. Didn't you notice your mom leave your own house?"

"No," he said as he stepped outside. "Did you know mom left?"

"Yes," Malo said as he followed him out, closing the door behind them. "She tried to be quiet, but I saw her."

"Why didn't you say so?!"

"What would you have done if I had told you she'd left?"

"Duh! I'd have gone to see Link!"

"That's why we're here," Beth interrupted. "Link's gone missing. And so has Ilia."

"What? When?!"

"Come on!" She grabbed Talo's arm and dragged him along. "The adults are talking about it right now. We gotta get to Colin's place before they finish."

"Let go! That hurts!"

The kids ran up the path until they came to the villagers standing around Colin's house, where his father was receiving a blaring earful from Mayor Bo. From their hiding place at the bottom of the hill, they could hear Bo roaring into Rusl's face.

"…INSANE?! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE! SOME STRANGE MAN NONE OF US HAVE MET COMES WALTZING INTO MY VILLAGE, AND YOU LET HIM TAKE MY DAUGHTER INTO THE WOODS TO DO WHO KNOWS WHAT!"

Rusl, undeterred by Bo's rage, angrily retorted, "Shiek didn't do anything to Ilia! He's not some predator who goes around kidnapping teenage girls! He's here with Link, for Din's sake! They came here to help us, not terrorize us! For once in your life, Bo, I wish you'd stop and think for one second!"

"THINK? THINK?! HOW DARE YOU?! I ORDERED ILIA TO STAY AWAY FROM THE FOREST NOT TWO HOURS AGO, AND YOU LET HER GO WITH SOMEONE SHE DOESN'T KNOW! NOT ONLY DID YOU UNDERMINE MY AUTHORITY AS HER PARENT, YOU ENDANGERED HER LIFE! TELL ME THIS INSTANT WHERE THAT SON OF A BITCH IS, OR I'LL WRING YOUR NECK IN HIS PLACE!"

"For the last time, he went into the woods looking for Ilia and Link! If you go hunting him down, you'll ruin our chances of finding them!"

"Wow," Talo whispered while they peeked up at the angry, arguing adults. "I've never seen Ilia's dad get so mad before."

"Or Colin's dad, for that matter," Malo added, sneaking a glance Colin's way. "Is Ilia really missing?"

"I didn't see her leave, but Colin did. Tell them what you told me."

"Ah- I- mm…"

Colin tightened his hands into fists. He became aware of his breathing, and couldn't help holding his breath. He could feel his forehead getting hotter as they stared, their eyes burrowing into him as they silently interrogated him.

"I don't…"

"C'mon Colin!" Talo blurted. "Tell us what happened to Ilia!"

"Sh- she and Link, were… were returning from the ranch. I watched them from the window of the house when… when Dad thought I wasn't looking. I saw that guy―the one Mayor Bo is mad at―talk to her and Dad for a bit, then Ilia went with him out of the village. After that, Dad started showing Link how to use his new sword."

"That's when I came along," Beth continued, taking over for poor Colin. "We were watching his dad train Link when that guy came back, but Ilia wasn't with him. They started getting real worried, thinking she'd gone back into the forest, so Link dropped his sword and went to go find her. But that was a long time ago, and no one has seen them since!"

"Then Mayor Bo is right!" Talo declared. "That guy did something to Ilia, and I bet he did something to Link, too!"

"But Dad said… that Shiek was a nice guy."

No one heard Colin's mumbled protest. Instead, Beth cried out, "No way! If Link could beat up a bunch of thugs when he was our age, there's no way he'd lose to somebody like that!"

"And besides," Malo pointed out, "We have no proof it was that guy who did anything to Link."

"How would you know?"

"When Link went into the woods to look for Ilia, did you see that guy go with him?"

"No, Link went by himself."

"And when did that guy go into the woods?"

"Almost a whole hour after Link left."

"Then there's no way that guy could have hurt Link. The woods are too big and easy to get lost in, especially for someone who isn't from the village. If he wanted to do something bad to Link, he would've gone in a lot sooner."

"Wow, Malo!" Talo exclaimed. "That's really smart!"

"But that doesn't mean he didn't do something to Ilia," said Beth. "They went into the woods together. It would've been the perfect chance to do something bad to her."

"Yes," replied Malo. "That's where the mystery lies."

"Mystery?" Talo's ear twitched at the word. "A real mystery? Like the ones in some of Mr. Rusl's books?"

"So it would seem."

"Then what are we standing here for? We have a mystery to solve!"

"You idiot!" yelled Beth. "Ilia could be hurt, or even… you know! I don't want to say what she could be, and you think this is a game! This isn't a stupid mystery, this is serious!"

"Who said mysteries aren't serious?! Besides, look at all the adults. All they're doing is standing around in front of Mr. Rusl's house, yelling at each other. If anybody's gonna find Ilia and Link, it should be us. Mystery or not, we have to help them!"

"But how? The woods are too big, even for us! We might never find them, and we'd end up lost like them!"

"Then instead of looking for Link or Ilia," said Malo, "We should look for the person who saw them last. We should look for the suspect."

"What's a 'suspect'?"

* * *

"And Impa wonders why I work alone."

Shiek paced up and down the forest path, Sheikah Slate in hand, retracing his and Ilia's steps. His footsteps crunched in the dirt and fallen leaves as he walked. He zoomed in on the map on his screen, and followed the traced green path as close as possible, mumbling to himself the whole way.

"We came down here… I stopped here to look at the flowers. We came to the spring, saw the spirit, then headed back, and I mentioned Link's voice to her. Sometime in between that and returning to the village, she vanished. But… where? And how?"

His footsteps slowed to a halt. His eyes came to rest on another patch of the Twilight Daisies. He stared at the flowers, then turned to the slate. He minimized the map, opened a new window on the screen, then pointed the slate's lens at the flowers and pressed a button on the side edge. The slate's shutter snapped shut and flashed, and the next instant, Shiek's picture of the flowers appeared on the screen.

"I doubt Shad would know anything about this," he thought as he opened a third window, "But he has connections at the university who might."

He attached his image to a new message, and was in the middle of typing out letters, when he heard rustling behind him.

"Oh, Lord."

He finished and sent the message, clipped the slate to his belt, then said aloud, "I can hear you. You're not very good at sneaking up on someone."

"Shoot!" said a tiny voice. "I think our cover's blown!"

"What do we do?"

"Let's stay quiet. Maybe he'll forget about us and move on."

"I can hear you talking," he repeated. "I won't hurt you, so you might as well come out from there."

The four children came sheepishly out of their hiding spot; a scraggly bush that offered little coverage.

"Hey you!" shouted Talo, pointing a shaky finger at Shiek. "Give us back our friends!"

"Yeah!" Beth agreed, "Or we'll make you regret it!"

"You morons," Malo grumbled under his breath.

"Children," Shiek groaned, "What do you think I'm trying to do? I imagine you're out here for the same reason as I. Would you like to help me look for Link and Ilia?"

"No way! They're our friends, not yours! If anybody's gonna find them, it's us."

"And we're not letting you out of our sight either. So you're comin' with us!"

Shiek put two fingers to his temple and rubbed fiercely.

"At least it's you and not the other villagers. I'm not in the mood to be lynched today. Very well, lead the way. Where should we look first?"

"Let's check the spring," said Beth. "If Ilia would go anywhere, it'd be there."

"Yes indeed," thought Shiek. "Let's check the place I've already checked five times."

"Wait," said Talo. "Colin, keep an eye on our surface."

"Suspect," corrected Malo.

"Why me?"

"Cause we said so. Just do it."

The three kids marched ahead, and left the two trailing behind before either could protest.

"Such kind children," Shiek said aloud as he and Colin walked after the others. "I can see why you spend time with them."

Colin said nothing, but his face turned red in response. Shiek eyed him carefully.

"You know I didn't do anything to Link or Ilia, right?"

"Yes," Colin mumbled. "Dad says you're nice."

"Then what's with your friends?"

"They just want to help."

"I get the feeling they want to play more."

Colin's face grew hotter each time Shiek made an offhanded comment.

"You could help me."

"How?"

"You could let me go."

"I don't think I could, sir."

"Why not?"

"Because, I bet you could leave whenever you wanted."

"You're pretty smart."

"Why  _don't_  you run away?"

"Because now that you and your friends are here, I can't leave you. Something in these woods is making people disappear, and you're in danger."

Colin whipped his head toward him, wearing a look of panic, but before he could say anything, Shiek's slate buzzed. He unclipped and opened it.

"An email, BCC'd to me."

He opened the email, saw Shad's message, and recognized his own image of the daisies.

" _'A friend of a friend came across a strange specimen and sent me this image, attached below. If any of you in the botany department recognize this plant, please let me know at your earliest convenience.'_  Good. Maybe that'll get us some answers."

He reclipped the slate and walked in silence beside Colin as they followed the children. When they arrived at the spring, there was no sign of Ilia or Link.

"No sign of the spring's spirit, either," thought Shiek. "I wonder if it's resting somewhere else."

"Now what?" said Beth, "No one's here except us. What do we do?"

"We have to search for clues," said Talo.

"Clues? What kind of clues?"

"Anything that'll help us solve this mystery!"

Beth groaned, and the children split up. Shiek leaned on his elbow against a nearby tree and watched in silence. Talo stomped across the spring to the waterfall, and lifted rocks aside to look underneath, then dropped them haphazardly in their original places. Malo and Colin pulled up tufts of dry grass from the banks and threw them aside as they combed from one side of the spring to the other. Beth buried her hands into the sand and shifted them as she dug. They searched relentlessly, but after half an hour, Beth cried in exasperation.

"I can't find anything!" She called to the others. "And I'm getting dirt under my nails."

"Check in the spring," Malo answered. "Maybe you'll find something in the water."

"Good idea. I can wash my hands while I'm at it."

Beth stood upright and moved into the center of the spring. She bent forward to dip her hands in the water, but stopped.

"What is that?"

She reached into the shallow water, wrapped her hands around a wooden object, and pulled, but it was sunken deep and stuck in the bottom sand. She grabbed it with both hands and yanked, and it came out, leaving a cloud of dirt in the hole it created in the spring.

"Guys, I found something!"

Talo came running over, splashing as much water as he could.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. It looks like some kind of doll."

"Let me see!"

Talo reached out to rip it from her hands, but Beth pulled away.

"No! I'm the one who found it, and I'm not done looking at it!"

"I said gimme!"

He shoved Beth's arm aside and grabbed at the object, but she shoved him with her elbow and started to run. He chased after, hot on her heels, and was within grabbing distance when they ran past Shiek, who easily snatched the object out of Beth's hands.

"Hey!" she cried, "Give that back!"

"I know this."

"What?"

Shiek's eyes opened wide at the wooden statue that fit snugly in his hand. Intricate designs were carved into the totem handle, but what set him off was the figurine's head.

"This is the Sheikah Emblem, the symbol of my people..."

Beth's face softened as she asked, "Do you know what that thing is?"

"It's a talisman, made by a member of my tribe. It's supposed to protect its holder from bad luck."

"I've never seen anything like it. It's so weird."

"Hey, I recognize that," Colin said as he approached Shiek from behind. "I've seen it in Ilia's room a few times."

"Then that means we've found a clue!" Talo exclaimed.

"Why in the world would Ilia have such a thing?" asked Malo.

"Not only that," added Shiek, "Where did she get it? Or... who gave it to her?"

* * *

"...you suppose it is?"

"Who cares? It looks cool and I'm keeping it."

_"Oh man... my head..."_

"Look, it's moving."

"I think it's waking up. Are you sure that collar is nice and tight?"

"Positive. It's not going anywhere, Your Highness."

_"...Highness?"_

"Good. Now get lost."

"Of course."

Echoes of scurrying bounced off the walls while Link's eyes blinked open. At first, he could only make out dark, blurred shapes. One smooth shape stood upfront and center, and as his vision cleared the shape took form, but Link still didn't recognize what was before him. It stood with its arms folded, watching him with half-closed eyes and a subtle, sly smile. Two things came to his mind upon seeing the creature before him: it was some kind of imp, and it had the brightest orange hair he'd ever seen.

"What's up, dog?"

He recognized the voice as one he'd heard earlier, in his muddled consciousness. The imp's voice was high-pitched, but soft and breathy. Its voice, and the curve of its hips, finally told Link he was dealing with a female. A female  _what_ , though?

"You're not scared, are you?"

She took soundless steps forward. Link glared wearily as she approached.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. How does having a treat sound?"

She held up a thin slice of meat, dangling it in front of his face, and Link was surprised by how much the smell tantalized him.

_"I am kind of hungry, now that I think about it."_

He reached up to take the food, but stopped in horror. He stared at his hand, no longer a hand but a furry paw.

_"AAA-?!"_

He glanced down. His other hand was also a paw. He spun in a circle, and realized he was walking on all fours. Link began to panic.

_"Oh god! Oh my god! What is wrong with me?!"_

He caught a bowl of water in the corner of his eye, sitting a few feet away, and ran to it. He looked into the surface, and started hyperventilating. Staring back at him, reflected in the water, was the face of a wolfos.

_"Oh... oh no... this isn't... this can't be happening..."_

"What's wrong, puppy? You look scared."

He retreated from the bowl. His limbs stiffened, and his stood on end.

_"Gotta get outta here! Gotta get away!"_

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

The imp moved closer, extending a hand toward his head.

_"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!"_

Link's throat rumbled, and he bared his fangs. He began to snarl. The imp took her hand back and refolded her arms.

"Aren't you scary?" she giggled. "Look at you, all growly like that. Guess you're braver than you look. But it won't do to have you like this."

She snapped her fingers, and a dull bolt of red electricity ran through Link's neck and into his body, making him jump. The bolt lasted a split second, but it snapped him out of his building rage. He instantly stopped snarling.

"There, that's better."

_"Wha- what did you do?!"_

"You be a good dog and calm down, or I'll use that collar again. No need to bite, okay?"

Link trotted back to the water bowl. Past his fur in the reflection, he saw the metal collar around his neck.

_"Get this thing off me! Let me outta here!"_

He shook his head back and forth, trying to loosen the collar, but it held tight. He could only glare angrily at the imp.

"I guess you don't want to be good. Fine, have it your way."

Another bolt shot through him, and lasted twice as long as the first. At this bolt, Link's wolfos body yelped in pain.

"Now then, be good and I'll give you some food, 'kay?"

She dangled the strip of meat again, and this time, Link sat at attention.

"Roll over."

He groaned and flopped onto the floor, rolling onto his back and back onto his belly.

"Oooh! You already know some tricks. That's even better! Now play dead."

He flopped onto his back again and let his tongue roll out of his mouth.

"So cute! You're pretty smart for a dog. Can you shake?"

Link sat up and extended a paw to the imp. She took it, and they shook hands.

"Good girl... or boy. Whatever you are, you've more than earned this."

She tossed the meat at Link's feet. He tried picking it up with his fingers, but only succeeded in batting at it with his paw.

_"Oh, right."_

He knelt down, grabbed the meat with his teeth and ate it whole.

"Now then, how'd you like to get outta this cage?"

For the first time since he'd awoken, Link took notice of his surroundings. Three stone walls surrounded him on all sides while iron bars separated him from a hallway. The cold floor made the pads of his feet uncomfortable. In one corner of the room was a misshapen pile of hay, and in another the water bowl, sitting beside a bowl of dry food. In the corner between the stone wall and iron bars sat a rotted wooden box. Its top was splintered beyond use.

_"This looks more like a cell than a cage."_

"I was thinking of letting you out, but you're such a smart dog, I bet you could figure it out yourself."

The imp danced onto one foot and spun in a pirouette. To Link's surprise, she vanished in a flurry of turquoise and orange bubbles, and reappeared on the other side of the iron bars.

"I'll make you a deal. If you can figure out how to get out of there, I'll let you sleep in my room instead of this cold little cage. I'll even take that collar off for you, if you promise to be good for the rest of the day."

She yawned and stretched her arms.

"Well, c'mon."

_"Wait, you mean now? Right now?"_

"What're you waiting for? We don't have all day."

Link trotted over to the iron bars, where a barred door locked him in. A heavy padlock dangled from the latch on the other side.

_"Not getting out through there. Even if she had the key, I doubt she'd open it."_

He paced around the small cell, observing the room. He dug through the hay but only found the floor underneath. When he scratched at it, he only succeeded in breaking one of his claws. He walked over to the bowls and pushed them aside with his snout. Finally, he approached the rotten box and sniffed it.

_"This thing is in pretty bad shape. I wonder..."_

He moved to the opposite end of the cell, braced himself on all fours, lowered his head, and charged. He jumped forward and bashed his head into the box, and it exploded. Link shook the wood bits out of his fur and peered at the spot where the box used to stand. The bars were bent out of shape near the floor, where tiles of stone were missing. A hole in the soft dirt separated the open tiles in the floor.

_"This hole is awfully deep. Could I fit through here?"_

He sniffed and started to dig. He scurried his paws across the dirt, sending it flying behind him, and making the hole bigger and bigger until he squished himself under the bars and came out on the other side of the cage. Once he was free, he shook the dirt from his body and looked over to the imp, but she was gone.

_"Wha- where'd she go?"_

He circled around looking for her, when something landed hard on his back.

_"Ack! Hey, that hurt!"_

He looked up, and realized she was sitting on his back. He started spinning in circles, trying to buck her off, but his attempts only made her laugh.

"Whee! Ride 'em, cowboy!"

_"Why you-!"_

He snarled again, but she yanked on his ear and stopped him immediately.

_"Ow! Will you stop it?!"_

"Listen. I like you, so here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna show you around, help you get used to this place. You'll be living here, so you might as well know you're way around, y'know? While I'm giving you the grand tour, you're gonna be meeting a lot of important people. The whole palace is in a tizzy over something, so all the big wigs are running around like cuccos with their heads cut off. I don't know why, and I don't really care, because it's the perfect chance for me to take advantage of everyone while they're distracted. Get what I'm sayin'?"

_"I don't think I like where this is going..."_

"In other words, it'll be a cinch convincing them to let me keep you, but you have to do EXACTLY as I say. As long as you follow my lead, we'll be smooth-sailing. Just don't get all growly like you were a moment ago, and don't get any funny ideas. Capiche?"

_"All right all right, geez! Just let go already!"_

He shook his head, and she released his ear.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Now, let's go!"

She kicked at his flank, but instead of going, Link glared up at her.

"C'mon, giddy up! Move, already!"

He rolled his eyes, and started forward.

"You'll wanna take the staircase at the end of the hall here, and that'll take us outside. From there, it's a short walk to the palace. You can't miss it."

_"All right, let's think for a second. I was running through the woods looking for Ilia, when I fell through the Twilight Daisies. Last thing I remember was my body hurting all over. Next thing I know, I'm a wolfos locked in a cage with some girl who's decided to keep me as her pet, and now she's taking me to some kind of palace. I gotta think of something soon, or I'll be doing tricks and eating jerky for the rest of my life."_

"You know, you're pretty comfortable riding like this," the imp remarked. "I bet you'd make a good battle mount. Just think, the great and mighty Midna, and her trusty steed!..." Her sentence trailed off.

"I guess I'll have to think of a name for you, huh?"

_"What have I gotten myself int... Wait a minute! If I fell in, did Ilia fall in, too? Is she here somewhere? Did she... did she turn into a wolfos, too?! Oh man, I hope she's okay. Please let Navi be with her. Please let her be okay..."_

* * *

"Ilia. Psst! Hey, Ilia!"

Ilia paused when she heard Navi whispering behind her.

"What is it?"

"Not so loud. Hold on a second."

"Why?"

"Just do it, please."

Ilia watched Shiek pass through the wooden gate into the village. She began tiptoeing backward when he was out of hearing range, until she stood at the base of the vacant tree house. Navi fluttered to the ground, while Ilia knelt down to her level.

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't want to go back to the village yet."

"Why not?"

"No reason."

"But you heard what Shiek said; the sooner we get the Sage of Light to the spring, the sooner we can restore the forest."

"I know."

"Then why can't we go back yet?"

"I don't want to."

Illia put a finger to her chin, then stood and said, "Why don't you wait for us at the spring? Link and I can gather the other villagers."

She turned to leave, but Navi flew up into her face, forcing her to take a step back.

"No, not yet!"

"Why not?"

"I'm mad at Link, okay?"

Ilia watched the entrance to the village. She sighed, letting her chest rise and slowly fall, then turned to Navi.

"How about this? We'll go to the spring for a while, so you can unwind. But while we're there, you have to promise you'll tell me why you're mad at Link."

Navi frowned and folded her arms. Nevertheless, she nodded and sat herself again on Ilia's shoulder, and they started at an uneasy pace, slipping quietly through the woods. Despite the dead leaves littering the path, Ilia's footsteps made no crunch. Empty branches from naked trees clawed at the suspiciously grey sky. The forest was still and silent.

"Navi," Ilia whispered. "Look over there."

Navi followed Ilia's gaze and squinted into the woods, staring beyond the path, where the open area faded into woodlands.

"I don't see anything."

"Quick, there it is!"

Deep in the forest, a lone bush rustled and blue light glittered through its brush.

"Oh!" Navi lowered her voice, "I see it!"

The source of the light popped up above the bush.

"What is that?"

"It looks like a white rabbit."

"But why is it glowing?"

The rabbit stood on its hind legs and stared directly at the girls.

"I've never seen rabbits in these woods before."

"Let's go, Ilia. That thing's creeping me out."

She didn't answer Navi's pleas. Instead, Ilia matched the rabbit's intense gaze. All at once, the rabbit bolted, running on all fours toward them. Navi let out a squeak and hid behind Ilia. As it came closer, the rabbit slowed its running to a gentle hop.

"What in the world are you?" Ilia gaped, realizing the rabbit was no rabbit. It had a cottontail torso, but its eyes peered out at her from the face of an owl, with gold horns sprouting from behind its ears. The rabbit chimera approached Ilia cautiously, and sniffed her bare calves.

"Navi, do you know what this is?"

"Heck no! Please Ilia, let's just go. That thing could be cursed!"

The not-a-rabbit hopped a few paces back into the woods. It stopped and stood up on its hind legs, staring at them.

"What's it doing?"

"Who cares? Let's leave it alone. I'm sensing something really weird about that thing. It almost feels like its... dead."

"What do you mean, 'dead'?"

"I don't know. I can't think of any other way to explain it."

The not-a-rabbit kept its eyes on the girls, tilting its head as it took a few more steps into the woods.

"I think it wants us to follow it."

"I hope you're not considering it."

"You're the one who doesn't want to go back to the village, remember? Besides, I've never seen anything like that before. I want to see where it lives."

"But what if it's a trick? What if it's some kind of demon that leads people to their doom?!"

"Or, what if it's one of the Spring Spirit's children, and it knows how to heal the forest?"

"Uggh," Navi let out an exasperated cry. "Fine! But don't say I didn't warn you!"

Ilia stepped off the path, and started walking after the rabbit. When it saw her moving toward it, the rabbit hopped ahead of her into the forest, but stopped again before it was out of sight.

"See?" said Ilia. "It wants us to follow."

"Let's hope that's all it wants from us," Navi mumbled, clinging to Ilia's hair. They followed the rabbit past trees, trunks and bushes deep into the woods.

"Ilia, wait a sec."

"What's wrong?"

"I can hear Link calling. He's searching for us. We should go back."

"We can't now."

"Why not?"

"Haven't you noticed?"

Navi looked up from Ilia's ear, and trembled. The sunlight filtering through the branches was gone, having all but faded behind blue darkness. A thick mist rolled in and surrounded them up to Ilia's knees. The trees surrounding them were black and gnarled, altogether different species from those bordering the village.

"What happened? Where are we?!"

"I'm not sure. I don't think we're in the Ordona Woods anymore."

"I told you this was a bad idea! That thing is leading us into a trap!"

"It's too late now. If we try to find our own way back, we'd likely get lost."

"What do we do?!"

"We don't have much choice. We'll have to see where that rabbit leads us."

Ilia's footsteps echoed as her bare feet crunched through the leaves, walking briskly after the rabbit which always hopped out of her reach, but never out of sight.

"Where are you taking us... No. Where are you taking me?"

Ilia's heart pounded in her chest. The farther she followed the rabbit, the heavier the fog and the darker the forest grew. A cold dampness pervaded the new forest, and she began to shiver, so she clutched at her shoulders. The sound of crunching leaves disappeared, and Ilia suddenly recognized the feeling of dewy wet grass under her feet.

"That's strange. It hasn't rained since New Year's Eve."

The rabbit stopped one last time, and watched Ilia walk up beside it. Parting through the trees beyond was a glowing, blue light that stretched up to the skies, high above the treetops.

"What is causing that light? Is that where you want us to go?"

The rabbit resumed its hopping, starting toward the light.

"Why did I ever agree to this?" pleaded Navi. "I should've listened to you! We should've gone back to the village!"

"Calm down, Navi. I don't think it's leading us into a trap."

"How would you know? How are you so calm about this?"

"I've never seen that thing, or this place before, but for some reason this feels familiar."

Navi clung to Ilia's neck and they walked in silence, following the rabbit toward the light. Ilia nearly tripped over a tree root when the forest parted around them, and they found themselves face to face with a mountain, green and covered in trees. On the mountain's summit was one huge cherry blossom tree.

"Wow," Ilia breathed. "We're definitely not in the Ordona Woods anymore. There aren't mountains like that anywhere in our province."

"But if that's true," Navi shivered, "then where are we?"

"Only one way to find out."

Navi took a deep breath, and spoke, "You know I can hear what you're thinking, right?"

"I haven't forgotten."

"You're looking for something, aren't you? I can tell that much, at least."

"Not something. Someone."

"Do you know who?"

"I wish I did, but no."

"Why are you looking for them?"

"Because the Spirit from the Spring asked me to."

"You mean that gold wolfos we saw? When did it tell you to do that?"

Ilia stopped walking, and her shoulders slumped.

"She told me a few weeks ago," she said quietly.

"That long ago?" asked Navi, "And you've been looking for them this whole time?"

Ilia nodded.

"That's why you go out to the woods everyday, even though your Dad gets mad."

"It's one of the reasons."

"Do you think she wants you to find the Sage of Light?"

"No."

"What about Link, then? He is the Hero of Time, after all. It makes sense that the Sp-"

"It's not him either."

"How do you know? Why didn't the Ordona Spirit tell you who it is she wants you to find?"

"I wish I knew. She only told me to look for someone, and that I'd know them when I saw them."

"Wait a minute," Navi breathed. "You've been looking for this person for weeks now. You have no idea who they are or what they look like. All you know is the Ordona Spirit wants you to find them. Why didn't you tell us about this? Shiek could've helped you. Link and I would've helped you. Why did you keep this to yourself? Why didn't you tell us when we came to the village?"

The rabbit had stopped moving, watching the two of them speak. Ilia took up following after it, this time walking much faster.

"Hey, I want an answer! If the Spirit needs help, it's Link's job to help, and mine too! What if this person could help you save your forest? Ilia, why didn't you tell us this? Does anyone else know? Why didn't you tell anybody?!"

"Stop yelling!" Ilia suddenly shouted, and Navi flinched. Ilia stared at her with unnaturally wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ilia breathed hoarsely. "I didn't mean to shout."

"Ilia, what's going on?"

"I didn't tell anyone because the Spirit told me not to. She said that if anyone found out what I was doing, she and I could both be in deep trouble."

"Why?"

"Because the person I'm looking for is dead."

"...What? You're looking for someone who's DEAD?! I- you- how- how would that even work? What're you supposed to do, find this person's body and dig it up?! And then drag it back to the spring?!"

Navi lowered the note of her voice to the point of mocking and waved her arms, "Hey! Ordona Spirit, I found this lovely corpse for you just like you asked! Here you go!"

"It's worse than that."

"Worse than looting a dead body?"

"Yes, actually. I'm not looking for this person's body. I'm looking for their spirit."

"You..."

Navi stopped mid-flight, and gave Ilia the same unnaturally wide-eyed look Ilia'd given her earlier.

"Oh... oh my god Ilia, you can't do that!"

"I have to."

"But you can't! The dead need to stay dead! They can't be brought back to the world of the living! So many things could go wrong! And even if they don't, it's just- it's not right!"

"I know."

"Why in the world would the Spring Spirit ask you to bring a dead soul back to our world?! She knows better than anybody how wrong that is!"

"That's why she wants me to find them. She told me that the soul I'm looking for is one who's been dead for years, but never made it out of this world."

"That's- that's even worse! A soul who's been wandering like that could be corrupted! They could be evil by now, and the Spirit's asked you to bring back a Poe or a Ghini! What a horrible thing to do!"

"I know, Navi. I know."

"And you still want to find this person?"

"Yes."

Navi's lowered eyelid twitched, and she began to groan.

"NnnggghhhaaaAAAAAGGHH!"

Her groaning grew louder until she was screaming at several octaves simultaneously, until she finally exhaled softly and rubbed her forehead.

"Fine. You know what? This is fine. This isn't the weirdest thing I've done in the last week. So, let's do this. Let's go find a dead person."

She flitted up to Ilia's head and sprawled out flat in her hair, drooping her wings and resting her chin on her folded arms.

"Are you okay?" asked Ilia.

"No. I feel really weird."

"I'm sorry I dragged you into following that rabbit-thing."

"It's okay. That's not why I feel weird."

"Is it because of Link?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we've got plenty of time. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, but I promised I would. To be honest, I think I'd rather talk to you than anybody else. You kind of remind me of Saria."

"Who's that?"

"My friend. From the Faron forest. I'll tell you about her later, if you like."

"I'd like that."

The rabbit hopped through the grassy fields with Ilia short behind, and just as Navi was telling her of Saria, they came to the foot of the mountain, and the source of the light. The rabbit started scurrying up the hill, stopping only to make sure Ilia was still following.

"This doesn't look nearly as steep as it did from the woods," Ilia commented. "It'll be a bit of a trek, but I can think we can walk to the top without too much trouble."

"Ilia, how long have you known Link?"

"Gosh, since we were toddlers. I don't even remember when we first met. Why?"

"..."

"Navi?"

She mumbled something under her breath that Ilia couldn't make out.

"What was that?"

Navi mumbled again, and again her words were lost.

"I can't hear what you're saying."

"I said I like him! I like Link, okay?"

"Like Link? I do, too. And so do lots of people. He's a really nice person when you-"

"Not like that. I mean,  _like_  like."

" _Like_ like? You mean you have a crush on him?"

"Yes," Navi pouted. "I admit it. I like Link."

Navi peered up at Ilia nervously, but grimaced when she started chuckling.

"Why is that funny?"

"Sorry," Ilia giggled. "I think it's really sweet. You should tell him that, I bet he'd l-"

"NO! I can't tell him!"

At Navi's outburst, Ilia laughed again.

"It's okay to be embarrassed. It's completely natural."

"No it's not."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a fairy. Fairies don't get crushes, especially on humans."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, it's complicated! It's not that we're not allowed to have crushes; we don't ever have them. Period."

"Why not?"

"Because we just don't, okay?! I hate this! I'm so confused! I don't understand what's happening to me!"

"Navi, are you all right?"

"NO, I'm not! I should be DEAD!"

As the words left her mouth, Navi began to wail. She dropped out of the air and collapsed onto the dirt path that wound up the hill. She wiped away the big tears that rolled from her eyes with her arms.

"What's wrong with me?!"

Ilia scooped Navi up in her hands.

"Navi," she soothed. "Why do you think you should be dead?"

"Because," she hiccuped, "I healed Link when he got stabbed in the Temple of Time. Healing a wound like that is guaranteed to take a whole fairy's life energy, but I'm still here, alive."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Navi sniffed before answering, "I don't understand how I'm alive, and that's why it's bad."

"So, it's not your crush on Link that's bothering you? It's the fact that you have a crush, and that you're still alive even though you spent all your energy bringing Link back to life."

"Yes."

"And fairies can't do either of those things?"

Navi sniffed before answering with a shaky, "Yes."

"Hmm." Ilia sat on the side of the path with Navi cupped in her hands. The rabbit came back and squatted in the dirt beside her.

"Well," Ilia began, "I don't know much about fairies, but I do know a thing or two about crushes. There's nothing wrong with having a crush on someone, and it doesn't make you weird or unnatural."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. If anything, it probably makes you a better fairy."

"Really? How?"

"If what you said is true, about fairies not being able to have crushes, then I think you just have so much love in your heart that you can do things no other fairy can. And so far as I can tell, that makes you better fairy than all the others. As for when you healed Link, how do you know you used all your life energy?"

"I don't remember what happened, but I'm pretty sure I fainted right after I healed him."

"Have you considered the possibility that maybe you have more energy in you than any other fairy?"

"I- I hadn't. Now that I think about it, I did manage to fly all the way from Faron to Hyrule City all by myself."

"It sounds to me like you're a lot stronger than any other fairy, and you just don't realize it yet."

Navi's face flushed bright red.

"Gosh," she mumbled, "When you put it that way..."

"Now as for why you're stronger than other fairies, I can't say. You'll have to find someone else to answer that."

"I have a few people who'd know."

"That's good. Who?"

"My parents," Navi said so firmly that Ilia didn't ask any other questions. The fog that had rolled into the forest was now at the mountain. They couldn't see the forest they'd wandered through anymore, or much farther than their extended hands.

"We'd better keep going," Ilia said, and stood up.

"Let's," Navi sighed as she jumped back onto Ilia's shoulder. "I don't like this place."

"Neither do I. Something about this mountain, and that fog, feels alive."

"How does it feel alive to you?" asked Navi. "It feels dead to me. Like we're walking into a cursed ruin."

"I don't know, but we need to hurry."

The rabbit stood from its haunches and restarted its traipse up the mountain. Ilia continued following after, but instead of walking slowly, she took to jogging behind it.

"Ilia," Navi hissed. "Look!"

Ilia turned back and looked, and found the fog was curling around her ankles.

"What the heck? Is it following us?!"

"Run, Ilia!"

Navi jumped off her shoulder and flew toward the rabbit. Ilia broke into a sprint, catching up with and running at the rabbit's side along the path, but no matter how fast she and the rabbit ran, the fog nipped at her heels as it rose higher and higher up the mountain side. The blue darkness that had pervaded the forest now took over the skies, and made the beacon on the mountain the only source of light.

At their speed, it didn't take Ilia and Navi long to reach the summit, where the giant cherry tree stood in the center of a pond, the surface of which was covered in cherry blossom petals and lily-pads. Gathered at the banks of the pond were more glowing rabbits with golden horns.

"I hear something," Navi whispered.

"I do, too," Ilia agreed, "It sounds like... ringing? Like a bell getting hit over and over again."

The rabbit gave Ilia one final head tilt before hopping away to join its brothers at the pond.

"Look at all them!" Ilia whispered. "There's gotta be hundreds of rabbits!"

"Holy crow! That one's huge!"

"Which one?"

"What do you mean, 'which one?' I'm talking about that giant horse thing in the middle of the pond!"

"What horse thing? I don't see a horse thing."

"It's right-" Navi stopped mid-speech and froze. "Um," her voice rose in alarm. "Where did it go?!"

Suddenly, Ilia felt herself shoved forward. She recognized the shove immediately as the kind a horse would give, pushing her in the back with its soft snout. Ilia gulped, slowly turned around, and found herself looking straight into glowing red eyes. A tiny whimper bubbled out of her throat when she noticed the horse had no snout to speak of.

"Navi," Ilia's voice cracked, "It has two faces." All Navi could do in response was whimper and hide behind Ilia's neck.

Golden laurel antlers crowned the horse's head, and long white hair draped from its faces and neck down to its knees. The horse turned the first of its faces to examine Ilia, and held its gaze on her for what felt to Ilia like an eternity, before turning the other to look at her for an equally long time. Never at any point did the horse blink while staring unrelentingly into her.

"Who are you?" Ilia finally asked.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Her own voice answered back, and Ilia shuddered.

"How did you-?!"

The horse finally dropped its penetrating stare, and turned its neck and faces toward the cherry blossom tree at the summit. The fog was now up to Ilia's knees.

"LOOK THERE."

Ilia looked to where the horse's faces looked, to the base of the cherry blossom tree.

"Navi," she spoke, her voice barely audible. "There's something over there."

She didn't bother waiting for a response. Ilia took an uneasy step toward the tree, then another and another, until she came to the foot of the pond. The rabbits carefully parted as she approached, backing away to make a path for her. When Ilia stepped into the water, she gasped.

"It's him!"

She ran straight through the pond, sending water flying, until she came to the other edge and sprinted toward the tree.

"Navi, it's him!" Ilia repeated.

"Who?" Navi finally spoke.

"The one the Spirit of Ordona wants me to find! He's here!"

She fell to her knees and slid the rest of the way to the tree's base. Sitting up and leaning against the trunk of the tree was an empty suit of armor, molded and overgrown, and broken in several places. A cracked shield and sword laid at the ground by its empty gauntlets.

"Ilia," Navi mumbled. "There's no one here. It's just a suit of armor."

Ilia grabbed the suit by its spaulders and shook its shoulders.

"Wake up!" she cried. "The Spirit of Ordona sent me! Please, wake up!"

"Ilia, stop! Whoever was in that suit decomposed a long time ago. There's no one-"

A long groan hissed as it erupted from the suit. Every rabbit in the vicinity of the pond jolted at the hiss, twitching their ears at the sound, and sprinted away. Ethereal arms and legs began to fill the suit's vambraces and grieves, and a skull materialized inside the helmet. One of the skull's eyes opened and glowed from the helmet's slit.

"Oh my God!" Navi screamed. "It's a stalfos!"

_"Where... is... he...?"_  The stalfos spoke, its voice an empty, rasping hiss.  _"Where... is my brother...?"_

"Can you stand up?" asked Ilia. She took the armor by its elbow. Its arm creaked and groaned as she pulled him away from the tree.

_"My brother... my son... my family... please... where are they?"_

"I don't know where your family is," Ilia answered. "But I can help you find him. You have to come with us."

"Come with us?!" Navi shrieked. "Are you crazy?! That thing would kill us the second it had the chance, and you want to help it?!"

"We don't have time to argue," Ilia said. "We have to get out of here." She wrapped the stalfos's arms over her shoulders, and lifted him onto her back.

"Not with him, we don't!"

"We have to! He's the one the Spirit of Ordona's searching for."

"But... why?!"

"We'll have to ask her when we get back, won't we?"

"And how do you plan on getting back?"

"I... I don't know."

"WAIT FOR THE QUEEN." Ilia's voice answered from the glowing horse.

"The queen?" Ilia thought to herself. "What queen?"

"Ilia?!" Navi cried out. "Where are you?!"

Ilia looked up and realized that though Navi's voice was close by, she was nowhere to be seen. The fog had rolled in and surrounded Ilia on all sides. The cherry tree, the pond, the horse and its rabbits, and the mountain had all vanished.

"Navi!" Ilia cried out. "I'm right here! It's okay!"

"Where?!"

"Follow my voice!"

Navi suddenly leapt out of the fog, smashed headfirst into Ilia's chest, and took cover under her shirt.

"What're we gonna do?! If we weren't lost to begin with, we sure are now! Everything's gone!"

"It's okay, Navi. We'll figure something out."

"But how?! This fog is so thick, we'll never find our way in it! We could end up walking in circles and never know the difference! We'll be trapped here forever! We're gonna die! We'r-"

"Stop for a second!" Ilia hissed. "I'm trying to listen!"

"Listen? To what?"

A distant, gentle tap answered Navi before Ilia could. It was by another in quick succession, and another and another.

"Those are footsteps," Ilia whispered. "Someone's coming."

"Not again," Navi whimpered, and ducked her head under Ilia's shirt. The footsteps grew closer and closer, and soon Ilia could make out a silhouette in the fog. A tall robed figure was quickly approaching them.

"Who is it?" Navi whispered.

"We're about to find out."

The figure walked so quickly toward them that Ilia had no time to react, or to decide what to say to the figure. Within minutes of noticing them in the distance, the figure had already strode up to and towered over Ilia. She was an aging woman, with turquoise skin, dressed from head to toe in black robes. She wore a silver crown, from which a jewelry piece dangled down and decorated her forehead. The orange hair beneath her crown was dull and thinning. She glared at Ilia with slanted, yellow eyes.

"Hmph," the woman snuffed. "You're not what I expected."

"Are... are you the queen?" Ilia asked nervously.

"I am," the woman said sharply. "In my realm, anyway. When the Lord of the Mountain told me to expect visitors, you're not exactly what I had in mind."

With both of her hands on her hips, the woman knelt toward Ilia and sneered bitterly at her, her brows deeply furrowed.

"What's your name, girl?"

"I- Ilia?"

"Are you asking me, or telling me?"

"Ilia," she blurted. "My name is Ilia, Your Majesty."

"And why are you carrying that stalfos, Ilia?"

"I'm... I'm taking him with me."

"Why?"

"Because someone asked me to find him, and bring him home."

"Who asked you to do this?"

"The... the Spirit of the Ordona Spring."

At Ilia's words, the woman's bitterness lifted from her face. She now gave Ilia a wide-eyed, suspicious glare.

"Where are you from, girl?"

"I... I don't- I don't know what you mean."

"The only springs I know of, with spirits inhabiting them, are in the Light World. Are you from the World of Light, little Ilia?"

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"Well now," the woman smiled. "Maybe you're exactly what I was expecting, after all. Tell me, girl, are you lost?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ilia answered quietly.

"Would you like to go home?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well then," the woman's smile creeped even further across her face, until she gave Ilia a full, toothy grin. "Let's take you home."

 


End file.
